Shining Armor smiled as he talked with his sister.

“Yeah, the new training regimen you came with is really working,” he said, “Trainees come back complaining on how difficult it is. Which is good.”

“It’s not too hard is it?” Twilight asked.

“No, I’d say it’s perfect. It pushes them all harder but by the end of it they come out stronger and faster than before and a lot of the new recruits are better trained than the older guards.”

“Oh, that’s good. We don’t need a repeat of what happened last year.”

“Well, uh, we do have that robot working security for us.”

Twilight lit up, “You do? Where is he? I’ve wanted to study him for ages now!”

“Don’t know, last I saw him he was in the VIP section hanging out with the Wonderbolts but I thi-”

A guard walked up, “Captain we have a problem.”

Shining sighed, “What is it?”

“A fight has been reported out in the gardens.”

“Can’t you guys deal with it? Or if you can’t get our consultant to deal with it?”

The guard looked around nervously, “Yeah, sir, um, that’s the thing.”

A large explosion outside shattered the nearby glass windows. Shards rained down into the lobby as people screamed. Shining instinctively covered his sister.

***

Jett gave a malevolent grin as he aimed his energy weapon, overcharging the device before firing it.

Starry Skies spread her wings and jumped out of the way as the blast hit the ground and exploded. She flew up into the air and pulled out her revolver and fired it at the android.

Jett looked up at her bolted to avoid the shots. Once he was beneath her the metal pack on his back opened up as two jets fired, directing thrust downwards and launching the robot into the air.

He made a fist and pulled back before punching Skies in the face, catapulting her right and sending her into the ground.

Below the android was the Shadowbolt wielding a crow bar. He grinned as he rapidly descended on the Shadowbolt.

Just as he was about to swing, Jett grabbed the bar and turned his move against him, flipping him over his back and sending him flying towards a nearby tree.

He turned in time to see the edge of an electrically charged knife flying towards his face. He moved his head but still received a gash as he rotated his body and kicked the knife away. Blueball Blitz laughed.

“Oh this is so fun!” she laughed grinning stabbing her other blade forward. Jett used his metal prosthetic and blocked the attack.

“Oh I couldn’t agree more!” he grinned swiping his leg and knocking her feet out from under her. She fell to her back. He raised his arm to punch her just as she rolled out of the way. Jett’s fist made a sizable hole in the ground.

Suddenly there were two arms wrapped around him as the Hurricane Shadowbolt lifted him into the sky. Jett wrestled and tried to break free as he was carried over the palace. Suddenly the Shadowbolt flipped forwards and launched the android down towards the parking lot.

***

Prince Blueblood basked in the attention the paparazzi gave him. He walked over to a red sports car.

“Yeah, I got this recently at the Manehatten automobile expo just the other week. Leather seats, new motor, the whole works. Had to get it after my last one was destroyed,” he turned with an arrogant grin.

Suddenly his red car was flattened by a small human sized object with a loud metallic crunch. Jett pulled himself out of the wreckage and growled, staring up at the Shadowbolt who threw him. He looked back at the car and then at Prince Blueblood and grinned. The prince squeaked.

Jett grabbed the car by its front, crushing the metal down so he could grip it better before swinging it around three times and releasing it into the air at his enemy. The heavy object sailed through the air.

The Shadowbolt who had previously been grinning and laughing suddenly stopped and dove out of the way as a heavy metal object flew towards him.

The car continued onwards and smacked into a guard tower, becoming embedded in the stone. The pack on the android’s back opened up again as Jett took to the skies after his opponent.

***

Dane looked up from comforting Spitfire. People were rapidly moving outside of the palace.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Fleetfoot glanced over, “Probably some celebrity who showed up late. Happens all the time.”

“I guess…” Dane said, “Damn! Still can’t believe he did that.”

Fleetfoot scooted over out of Spitfire’s ear shot, “I’m curious, why would he do that? I mean, he literally had the most desirable female in the world at his knees, he was in a position most guys would literally kill to be in and he just… threw it all away. Why would he do that?”

“I don’t know why he would do that. Maybe he’s still having identity problems or self-esteem issues. The guy had all sorts of problems growing up. Even machines aren’t completely immune to psychological harm. Damn! He was so close to actually being happy and then all thi-”

A guard ran over, “Sir, I’m afraid you and your company are going to have to evacuate the palace immediately.”

Dane raised an eyebrow, “Why what’s going on?”

“Nothing to worry about, the guard is moving to deal with it. But please, we need to evacuate you to your vehicles.”

Spitfire looked up through her red blood shot eyes, “What’s going on?”

Dane glanced over at her, “We have to leave, they’re evacuating the entire palace out to the parking lot.”

“Did they say why?” she asked hoarsely.

“No, but I guess we’ll find out once we’re out.”

“Alright,” she whispered and stood up.

***

Dusk sprung forward to swing with his crowbar. Jett simply grinned and backed up and vanished into thin air; his stealth system activated.

Dusk’s eyes widened as he lost his target. He turned rapidly looking for any sign of movement. Nightshade ran up, her dented brass knuckles still on her hands.

“Where is he?!” she yelled.

“I don’t know,” Dusk gulped, “He just up and vanished.”

“Well find him!”

A rustling behind them got their attention. The leaves moved of their own accord as something entered the forest.

“In there,” Nightshade pointed, “After him.”

She bolted inside followed rather uneasily by the rest of her team.

“Call out, if you find him, kill him on sight.”

Storm Cloud uneasily grasped a shotgun he’d acquired, “Cap I don’t like this.”

“Shut up and keep looking.”

Soon the Shadowbolts were spread out in the garden area and were invisible to each other through the thick foliage. They slowly moved through the forested area, every single crunch of a leaf or snap of a twig making them uneasy.

Suddenly someone screamed as sounds of violent and brutal strikes were heard followed by a sickening snap and another scream. A heavy striking noise followed that and the screaming stopped.

Charger looked around him and slowly moved towards the area where the sounds came from. He pushed through the flowers and trees and soon emerged on a stone path. Storm Cloud was unconscious, his legs and arms heavily bruised to the point where moving would be painful and one of his wings was broken.

Charger started breathing heavily as he looked around him. He reached into his shirt and pulled out his revolver and knife and held them in front of him defensively.

“S-Storm Cloud is down!” he called out.

“Alright!” someone else responded.

He continued to move slowly down the path. In the darkness it was a rather unnerving thing to do. Slowly he stepped over each stone, slowly bringing him farther into the abyss of uncertainty. Suddenly a stick flew at him from behind and hit him in the head, bouncing off harmlessly and landing on the ground.

Charger instantly turned around and screamed and fired blindly at nothing. His heartbeat accelerated as did his irregular breathing as he became more and more terrified. A calm yet eerily voice echoed through the trees, singing a perverted version of a nursery rhyme.

“Charger, Charger, Fly away home…”

He turned rapidly to find the voice.

“Your house is on fire… Your lover will burn…”

He turned again, aiming his gun trying in desperation to find the voice.

“The last one left standing will be a boy named Jett… Who’s pointing a gun and playing a game of roulette…”

Charger turned and started running towards the Cliffside edge of the forest. He bolted down the path, ignoring all the trees and plants.

Suddenly the loud noise of a gunshot pierced through the calm of the forest as a shotgun round impacted Charger in the side, knocking him to the ground gasping for breath and unable to fly.

Jett emerged from the forest, disengaging his Stealth, standing over Charger with a sadistic grin. He placed the edge of the double barrel shotgun on Charger’s face.

“It’s not… my fault,” he gasped.

“Your fault?” Jett giggled, “Yes, it is.”

He moved to pull the trigger just as Starry Skies tackled him to the ground, knocking the gun from his hands and sending it over the edge of the cliff. She raised her fists in a cry of rage to punch to the android, however Jett simply laughed and gripped her neck in a vice grip and lifted her off of him.

Her hands moved to her neck as she tried to pry the prosthetic off of her neck.

Jett grinned, “Consider yourself dumped.”

Without so much as a second or first thought he threw her over the edge of the cliff and watched her fall and painfully glide herself over to the edge of a cliff.

He grabbed one of the metal railings and pried a piece of metal off of it and hurled it down at her. She just barely had time to catch her breath and recover when she was forced to dodge out of the way of a sharp metallic pike. The metal embedded itself in the rock just a few centimeters from her position.

“Come on! Try!” Jett yelled as he ripped more metal away from the railing and hurled it down at her. Suddenly a Shadowbolt, Dusk, had tackled him to the ground again and raised his machete over his head and stabbed it down into the android’s stomach.

Jett grabbed his head and threw him off of him and pulled himself up. The blade was buried up to the hilt inside his gut. He walked over towards the edge of the forest. Twister, Hurricane, and Nightshade emerged from the trees.

Jett, his eyes hidden, laughed as he grabbed the handle of the blade and slowly pulled the blood stained blade out of his stomach. He let the edge of the weapon fall to the ground as he dragged it with him as he walked.

Twister pulled out a pair of revolvers and aimed them at the android and fired. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the android’s skull, simply peeling away the synthetic tissue where they hit exposing the metallic surface beneath.

Jett simply sped up his walking and then rapidly swung the machete at the girl, cutting her hand and knocking a gun out of her hand.

Nightshade bolted and raised her fists to strike him. Jett spun around and threw Twister into Nightshade’s incoming strike, breaking her cheek bone and knocking her out. Nightshade growled and threw Twister off of her.

Suddenly he was being gripped from behind by Hurricane. This time however Jett knew what to expect. He kicked downward and flipped himself over the flier and grabbed his shoulders and threw him back towards a tree.

He focused back at Nightshade who cracked her knuckles and rushed towards him. Jett banged his fists together before raising his arm in a strike. Nightshade did the same and pulled her arm back before thrusting forward.

Jett moved his head right to dodge the blow just as he struck forward, striking Nightshade in the shoulder. She spun around and flew towards the ground. She started to quickly pull herself up onto her feet.

Suddenly there was an intense pain in his left shoulder as Stratus bolted from the forest and struck him. Jett cried out.

Robot Freak!

Jett roared and spun around and gripped Stratus’ head in a vice. The Shadowbolt raised his arms to pry the android off of him. Jett simply gave an insane grin.

“Die…”

In an instant his electricity activated. Almost one million volts flowed through the Shadowbolt’s head. Jett grinned as he watched the electricity crackle. Finally he simply dropped the flier just as Nightshade got back up, holding her shoulder. She growled. Jett smiled as his jet pack opened up and accelerated him into the sky.

Nightshade snarled and took off after him followed by Hurricane who pulled himself up to his feet.

Jett focused on the ground, searching for Shadowbolts to hunt. Suddenly Nightshade catapulted herself into him, tackling him in midair. The two flew towards one of the second floor windows of the palace. Nightshade spun around and threw him into one of the stain glass windows.

Hurricane arrived.

Nightshade frowned, “Take care of him.”

He grinned, “Yes ma’am.”

Nightshade watched as Hurricane angled his wings and bolted into the palace after the android. Turning she bolted towards one of the nearby guard towers.

***

Rarely had Jett ever considered visiting some of the older palaces and castles back on Earth. Mainly because in his opinion he’d seen the one’s worth seeing when visiting his now mostly dead family in England. The Royal Family did keep all the grounds in good condition he’d admit.

The palace he was in right now was actually a balcony overlooking the dining hall. Furniture was still prominent up here with small tables for guests to sit at. Candles and candle holders decorated them. Tapestries and curtains lightened up the walls while old paintings and statues added class.

He pulled himself up out of the pile of debris that was once a table just as Hurricane dove through the windows at him. Jett rolled right to avoid a strike and jumped to his feet. Hurricane grinned, his fingers flexing around a crowbar.

The Shadowbolt cracked his neck, “You know, one of the reasons people like us, the ones with wings, are superior is because of our anatomy. Our bones are stronger, stiffer, and denser while also being hollow to cut down weight. Our muscles are specialized for flying, just like our organs. We can move faster and hit harder than everyone.”

Jett yawned, “That’s cool. Go write a fucking book about it.”

Hurricane grinned, “Books are for nerdy fucks like you.”

He rushed the android who ducked and head butted him in the stomach. He staggered back and gripped his crowbar and swung it. Jett raised his prosthetic to deflect.

Heavy swings from the cast iron tool scraped the Tritanium plating on his arm. Jett grabbed a nearby candle holder and swung it, hitting the Shadowbolt in the arm, knocking the crowbar away.

“Aaahh!” Hurricane yelled.

Jett snarled and thrust out with both his legs, throwing the flier off of him and onto a nearby table, cracking it in two.

He smiled and walked over to the table and put the candle holder on the Shadowbolt’s neck and began pressing down with it.

Hurricane began choking, reaching up and trying to grasp at anything.

“Ah, ta ta ta,” Jett smiled, “We wouldn’t want to disrupt things here. You know, I really took in what you said, about your kind being superior and there’s just one hypothesis I want to test.”

He grinned and leaned in closer, “Do you still die when I cut off your oxygen?”

Hurricane’s pupils dilated as he scrambled for something, anything, to help him get the homicidal android off of him. Finally his fingers found purchase in a discarded cane left behind when the palace was cleared out. He swung it wildly.

The wooden cane struck the android’s head and snapped. Not enough to do damage but enough to knock him away. Hurricane scrambled for the crowbar.

He jumped up once he had it, coughing, “Now I’m gonna kill you.”

Jett grinned, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Raaaahhh!”

He charged the android and swung the bar. Jett raised the cast iron candle holder and blocked the strike before lashing out with one of his own. It found purchase and hit his attacker in the elbow. Hurricane cried out and swung the bar again. Jett dropped the holder and caught the strike before falling back and flipping the Shadowbolt over him, wrenching the crowbar from his hands.

Hurricane skidded across the floor before scrambling up in time to duck again as Jett hurled the bar at him. It spun through the air before exploding a nearby stone statue, taking off its head and most of its upper torso.

Jett picked up the candle holder again and bolted towards his opponent. Hurricane stood up and flexed his wings and spun rapidly, knocking Jett into a china cabinet. Hurricane grabbed a nearby flag pole and swung it. Jett ducked just as the pole smashed into the remains of the cabinet. Jett saw an opening and took it, slamming the end of the candlestick into his foot.

Hurricane cried out in pain just as Jett grabbed him and smashed him into a nearby table, breaking it. He grabbed the candle stick and smashed it down just as Hurricane rolled out of the way. Hurricane quickly got to his feet and kicked the android in the side, sending him flying farther down the balcony.

Jett landed on his feet and hurled the candlestick at the Shadowbolt, striking him in the head. Hurricane fell to the ground. Jett grabbed a hardcover book from a nearby table and ran to finish off his target. Hurricane pulled himself up, abet some blood leaking from his head and dodged a punch from the android.

He himself countered with a strike that was blocked by the book Jett had grabbed. While Hurricane recoiled Jett used the book like a ram and slammed it into his stomach. Hurricane coughed and grabbed the android and hurled him into the wall. It cracked as he impacted. He quickly recovered in time to dodge a fist from Hurricane that smashed through the drywall he’d just been occupying. He quickly removed his hand and turned in time to see Jett running up to drop kick him out of a nearby window.

***

Starry Skies grabbed the first aid kit from the guard station and bolted back towards the palace. After realizing that the homicidal android was no longer raining metal down on her she quickly spread her wings and flew back up to the palace grounds.

Now she was flying back towards the palace, heading directly towards the garden. She didn’t even see the broken window on the second floor of the palace.

***

Jett looked around the destroyed mess of the inside of the palace. They had certainly made a mess of the place. He laughed as he wondered who would clean up the mess. Probably the same person who cleaned up all the destroyed things in Animes. Outside he saw a certain pink haired flier carrying a heavy metal case.

He snarled and stood up and began running.

***

Film Reel ran with her crew towards the side of the palace, the camera still recording.

“I’m Film Reel coming to you live from the Gala,” she said to the camera.

“We’ve been evacuated to the parking lot following an unknown incident,” she panted as she ran, “We’ll try to give you more information as so- Wait. Is that… Starry Skies?”

The Shadowbolt flew overhead heading towards the gardens.

Suddenly one of the stained glass windows up above them exploded as a figure accelerated out of it, a pair of small flames jetting off of his back. Starry Skies turned with a surprised look on her face. Jett grinned and punched forward, his fist impacting the first aid kit, causing it to shatter and explode all over the lawn.

“Whoops! Sorry!” Jett laughed as he tackled the girl to the ground, “I supposed you remember my promise I made you, don’t you?!”

His prosthetic opened up as a bladed weapon emerged. Without as much as a warning he stabbed her just below her diaphragm, the blade wedging in between her ribs. She felt the wind get knocked out of her followed by an intense pain.

Jett’s face twisted into a sadistic expression, “Ooh, I can feel your ribs.”

Starry Skies grimaced as he slowly began to twist the blade.

“I’m sorry, does this hurt?!”

Starry Skies cried out in pain.

“Okay, how about this?!” a million volts of electricity passed through the blade into her body, stunning her and soon rendering her unconscious. Jett laughed as he retracted the blade and threw her to the ground.

“Five down, Four to go.”

A pinging sound got his attention as a small round object bounced into his vicinity. He looked down, a pineapple grenade. It exploded at his feet in a flash of orange as the android disappeared in a cloud of fire and smoke.

Nightshade was panting, still holding her shoulder as Hurricane, Blueball Blitz and, Dusk landed next to her.

The smoke cleared and the android’s form became visible. He was down on one knee and slowly pulled himself up. Much of the synthetic skin on his right leg was blown away exposing all the servos and axels and cybernetic robotics underneath. Farther up his body and away from the center of the explosion were bits of missing skin torn away by shrapnel. Part of his face had a small square metal bit of metal embedded in it. His suit was in tatters, suffering many burns and tears in the fight.

He sighed and pulled out the small chunk of metal and dropped it onto the ground.

“Nice try,” he said, “You got pretty lucky there.”

“Shit, he’s still standing?!” Hurricane asked.

Blueball Blitz laughed as unnatural sparks flew over her hair, “Oh this is going to be fun!”

Her knives were suddenly in her hands as she and Dusk bolted for the android. Jett cracked his neck and started running to meet them. At the last second he jumped and dove forward, spinning in between the two. His left foot kicked out; breaking Dusk’s hand in the few tenths of a second it took him to pass by while his arms grabbed Blitz and flung her back around over him, breaking her arm.

Blitz however didn’t appear to notice as she landed like a cat though her arm was hanging at a rather odd angle. She still had her other knife in her hand. Laughing like a maniac she rushed forward with her good arm and began stabbing at the android.

Jett dodged her attacks before bringing his foot up in an axe kick down on her back, sending her flying face first into the ground, taking her out of the fight.

“Well that was far too easy,” he laughed and turned to deal with Dusk.

Dusk looked at his broken hand and the machete in his other and simply gripped the blade, spun, and hurled it at him before pulling out his gun and aiming it at him.

Though heavily damaged externally, the android’s brain still functioned perfectly as he caught the spinning weapon and rotated and shot it back at its owner before he could even get a shot off. Dusk pulled the trigger just as the bladed weapon hit him in the chest, just right of his heart.

His eyes flew open as the weapon fell from his hand as Jett rubbed a new bullet wound on his skull. Dusk himself simply collapsed on his side, breathing irregularly.

Jett laughed and turned just as Hurricane bolted towards him with his fists raised. His arms hammered down on the android with considerable force, knocking him to the ground. Just as he raised his fists for another strike, Jett’s arm opened up and the flier found himself face to face with an energy weapon. His eyes widened as he fell back to avoid getting shot point blank in the face.

***

Spitfire, Dane, Gin, Blaze, and Fleetfoot moved through the crowd pouring out of the palace. They were inside the parking lot now. Most of the other Wonderbolts were already at the limos waiting for them. The Princesses were outside, calming all the guests as they emerged.

Spitfire’s condition was still one of morbid depression and heartache. Dane glanced over at her and moved closer.

“Hey, it’ll be fine,” he said, “I’m sure he’ll come to his senses soon enough.”

Spitfire sighed, “I just want him to be happy, even if it’s not with me. That’s what love is right? Wanting the person you love to be happy no matter what? Even if you can’t be a part of it?”

“I’m sure he’s just unsure of himself right now.”

Fleetfoot walked up, “Either way he has to manage this evacuation. If I had to keep track of all these right snobs I’d be a bit unsure of myself too.”

Gin frowned, “Yeah, well I think for an android the job would be a bit easi-”

A loud bang got everyone’s attention. One of the spires of the castle exploded in a splash of blue fire. The top of the structure crumbled down upon itself.

“What the hell was that?” Blaze asked.

The sounds of multiple shots of an energy weapon were heard followed by one large pulse. The glass above the entrance to the lobby exploded as a white haired Shadowbolt flew through it with a stream of blue exhaust following him as he impacted the ground, rolling to a rather unceremonious stop.

Dane frowned, “Is that a-”

“Shadowbolt?” Spitfire finished.

“I was going to say energy weapon discharge but your answer works too,” Dane said.

Gin’s eyes widened, “Energy weapon?”

“The only person who carries one of those here is-”

Spitfire’s eyes flew open, “Jett.”

A large flash of blue light was seen coming from behind the palace followed by a loud explosion.

Spitfire started running back towards the palace.

Fleetfoot called after her, “Where the hell are you going?!”

Spitfire turned, “Jett could be in trouble!”

Blaze frowned, “Why do you care? He coldly rejected you.”

“That doesn’t mean I hate him!” Spitfire snarled, “Even if he turned me down, even if I can never be with him no matter how much I want to be, I still love him! And I need to make sure he’s safe. If you don’t want to come in with me that’s fine but don’t get in my way!”

Blaze shrunk down slightly in silence.

Dane bolted past her, followed by Gin, “You coming slow poke?”

Spitfire turned, “What?”

“If you’re going back there then we’re coming too. The bastard may sometimes be a heartless son of a bitch but he’s still our brother,” Gin said with a confident grin.

“And what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t back you up when you needed us?” Dane said, “Besides, someone’s gotta get through those guards.”

Fleetfoot ran forward, “We’ll do it! Right Blaze?”

Blaze sighed, “I suppose I got nothing better to be doing. But you better come back with my girlfriend alive and well.”

Gin put a hand to her heart, “Aw, baby, I never knew you actually cared.”

“Shut up bitch.”

Dane rolled his eyes, “Figures. Well let’s get on it!”

Fleetfoot and Blaze ran back towards the main entrance. Two guards were there making sure everyone was getting out.

“Excuse me sir,” Fleetfoot said, “I’m sorry to disturb you but just over there I saw…”

Blaze distracted the other guard with a similar story, allowing the three friends to slip back inside unnoticed.

“Come on!” Dane said, “Dining hall was this way and it led to the garden area! That’s where we’ll start.”

***

“All the old familiar things!” Jett laughed as he dodged a strike from Nightshade, “You fight just like her!”

“This isn’t over!” Nightshade yelled dodging a counter strike and jumping up to execute a flying roundhouse.

“I’d say it’s getting there!” The android laughed, “It’s down to just you. Everyone else has either been shot or stabbed or knocked out in some other way. How long do you think it’ll take for you to fall?”

“Just slightly longer than you!” She growled jumping up and delivering a drop kick to the android’s chest.

Jett flew back towards a statue garden. All sorts of statues from famous musicians to more abstract pieces.

Nightshade walked over and grinned, “Try these on for size.”

She pulled out two large lollipop like devices similar in appearance to old anti-tank grenades. She pulled the pin on one and whipped it in the android’s direction. Jett’s eyes widened and he bolted to avoid the incoming explosive. Even if it was a primitive weapon it still had potential to do damage. It hit the statue just a few meters behind him and exploded in a large cloud of fire, smoke, and stone debris.

Jett himself was knocked down by the incoming stone fragments and growled, grabbing the head of one of the statues and hurling it at Nightshade. Nightshade herself gasped and dove out of the way of the head, not even having time to watch it skip across the ground and impact and explode against a tree, before arming another grenade and throwing it at the android. It exploded only a meter from his position as he disappeared in a cloud of stone and fire.

Nightshade was panting heavily. Did she do it? Was he dead? She hoped so; she wasn’t sure how long she could keep this up for.

Suddenly the torso and head of a certain ancient wizard statue flew out of the settling cloud of dust. Nightshade sighed.

“Oh for the love of-” she dove forward as the heavy object impacted the ground behind her with a considerable thud, embedding itself firmly in the ground. She barely even had time to get up before one of the arms flew towards her, spinning like a saw blade. She dove right to avoid it as it bounced along the ground before catching itself and embedding into the lawn.

Jett emerged from the cloud of debris. Parts of his right arm were exposed, showing off all the robotics underneath. The left side of his chest was simply torn open revealing heavy metal plating underneath as well as power connections. The synthetic skin that remained was either heavily cut up by rubble or burned from the explosion. He looked like any soldier’s worst nightmare.

He roared at her in pure rage.

Nightshade raised her fists and prepared for another conflict. Suddenly she saw something. The side arm the guard gave him was still attached to his body! Hers was empty but if she could grab his she could win this fight! All she had to do was get in close.

The two bolted at each other.

***

Spitfire, Dane and Gin ran into the now empty dining hall. Plates of food and party decorations scattered the area. There were even still streamers and ribbons hanging on the statues and columns from before the evacuation.

“Where do you think he is?” Dane asked, “I don’t hear anything inside the palace.”

“Outside in the gardens is more like it,” Spitfire said with concern in her voice, “We better hurry. I don’t want him to get hurt or worse.”

“It honestly shouldn’t be too hard, just follow the destruction and sounds of violence and we’ll eventually find our man,” Gin said.

Suddenly one of the large stain glass windows on the far side of the room exploded in a shower of colorful glass. Nightshade that was grappling with Jett flew in and landed hard on the marble floor before flipping the robot over her as she landed on her feet in a fighting stance. The android himself flew towards the other side of the room, impacting one of the large stone statues of some ancient queen.

The statue cracked and collapsed down upon him just as he was starting to stand up, leaving only a pile of rubble.

“Jett!” Spitfire screamed in horror.

Nightshade collapsed back down on her knees, holding her shoulder, “Damn it… Finally.”

Dane and Gin ran up and glanced down at the Shadowbolt with some confusion mixed with interest. Spitfire however shot daggers at the girl.

“What the hell are you doing?!” she screamed.

“Revenge…” Nightshade seethed.

Spitfire snarled, “Revenge?! For what?!”

“He hurt you sister!” Nightshade yelled pulling herself up to her feet, still holding her shoulder, “He played you like a piano!”

“He did not play me! Believe me I know him far better than you think you do!”

“He still rejected you and hurt you! He broke your heart!”

“So what?! I still want him to live a happy life even if that’s not with me! So what if it hurt?! That doesn’t give you the fucking right to gang up on him with your goons like this!”

“Gang up on him?! He’s put all of them in the hospital at least! Some with life threatening injuries!”

“And you started all of this!”

“He nearly KILLED everyone on my fucking te-”

A rumbling noise on the other side of the room stopped the conversation. The remains of the statue stirred as a figure rose from the debris.

The head of the statue was crushed under a hard metallic fist as the figure pulled itself out of the rubble and screamed with inhuman rage.

Jett stumbled out of the broken statue. His red eyes focused on one target.

Spitfire gasped. Part of the android’s face was simply gone, exposing his jaw and part of the inside of his mouth as well as the robotic components beneath it. His right leg was totally exposed with nothing remotely organic remaining around it. His right arm also had flesh completely shredded off it. His chest was torn open exposing hard metal plating underneath it as well as some of the cybernetics that composed the android. What synthetic flesh that did remain was completely shredded with shrapnel or burned black.

“I’ll kill you!” he screamed as he raised his left arm. The familiar gun like device emerged and locked on to Nightshade as it charged.

Dane almost threw up seeing his brother’s almost undead like appearance while Gin simply covered her mouth.

Suddenly Spitfire was standing in front of Nightshade, having moved herself between her and the raging android. She held her arms up in a protective fashion as well as spreading her wings. Jett panted and continued to charge the weapon.

“Move,” he stated simply.

Spitfire, tears in her eyes, gulped simply uttered, “No.”

Jett’s face contorted, “MOVE!”

Spitfire flinched, “Jett… I can’t. You’re hurt badly. You’ve got to stop this.”

“Stop?! Stop what?!”

“This violence! This isn’t the real you! Just look at yourself!”

“Do I disgust you? They did this to me!”

“No, no of course not! But you’re damaged and hurt. You’re angry… I understand that but… this isn’t right! Jett Halsey doesn’t just fight like this for no good reason.”

“How could you possibly know that?!” he half laughed, “How do you what the real me is like?!”

“Because I fell in love with the real you! The you that’s funny, that’s smart, that’s entertaining and magical to be around. Not this… monster you claim to be. I know you must feel terribly angry at the person behind me but… that doesn’t give you a right to kill her just as it doesn’t give her the right to do the same!”

He laughed, “How could you possibly know what I’m feeling right now?! Do you have any idea what it feels like to be… this?! This machine?! This copy of a soul?! How could you possibly know that?!”

Spitfire sighed and gave him the most empathetic expression she could muster, “You’re right… I couldn’t. Those are experiences unique only to you and you alone. But that doesn’t mean you’re a copy, Jett, you’re no illusion. You’re not the echo you think you are. You said you wanted to have the opportunity to find out who you are. Well if you fire that shot, you’ll destroy the person you are now. Not the copy or replica but the unique identity you’ve forged through all your hardships and triumphs that are uniquely yours. You may not know just who you are yet, you may not know just what you can do, but it would be better to be a blank slated angel than a painted demon.”

Jett’s eyes continued to burn red, “She said I hurt you… Did I?”

Spitfire gulped before continuing in an almost whisper, “When you turned me down it felt like someone had torn out my heart and stomped it into dust. It hurt then and it hurts still… but I want you to be happy, even if it’s never going to be me.”

“I’m a war machine; it’s never going to be anyone. Those experiences you say make me unique are all double edged swords. I’m broken Spitfire…” He lowered the weapon, “I can’t feel anything posit-”

Nightshade, who had been watching with a certain disinterest in the conversation, noticed his arm lower and bolted out from behind Spitfire and tackled the android to the ground.

“You! You hurt my sister and then my team! And now you want her to be sympathetic to you?!” she screamed as she raised a fist to strike the android.

Suddenly, in the midst of the struggle, the weapon went off. In an explosion of marble and energy Jett was thrown in one direction and Nightshade in the other. Spitfire was knocked off her feet.

Jett groaned and pulled himself to his feet. A large crater was now in the floor where they had been fighting. Nightshade lay on the other side of the room, not moving. Burns covered her body.

Jett slowly walked over to her and glanced at her form, kneeling down; he tentatively felt her neck for a pulse.

Suddenly he jumped back in horror, the red in his eyes disappearing being replaced by the calm blue.

“Oh-oh god,” he cried standing up and looking down at his hands. He stumbled back away from her body. Spitfire walked over.

“Get away from me!” he screamed, “Oh god. What’ve I done?!”

His ‘breathing’ became irregular and increased. Energy conduits fluctuated heavily all over his body.

“Oh god… Oh god... I really did it…” he gasped as Spitfire approached her sister’s body.

Spitfire’s eyes widened, “Oh my! She doesn’t have a pulse!”

Dane ran over and felt her neck, “Oh god.”

Gin ran over, “What can I do?”

Dane looked up, “Go and look for the rest of her team, make sure they’re at least alive!”

“Got it.”

Spitfire turned to Dane, “Please. You have to help her!”

Dane grunted, “I’m trying to! Help me get this coat off!”

“Al-alright.”

The two pulled off the Shadowbolt’s tattered leather jacket and threw it away.

“W-what do we do now?”

Dane spat into his hands, “I’m going to try routing electrical power to my hands as a sort of makeshift defibrillator.”

He rubbed his hands together and then slammed them into the Shadowbolt’s torso, shocking her body.

“Will that work?” Spitfire asked.

Dane gave a nervous laugh, “Hell if I know. If Jett can reroute electricity to his hands to shock the living shit out of people then I can at least do that to save someone.”

He began shocking the Shadowbolt, “Come on!”

Jett looked over the scene in horror before turning and bolting towards one of the open doors.

“Jett wait!” Spitfire called.

Dane continued shocking the unconscious woman, “Come on damn it! Come on!”

Spitfire returned, “Jett just bolted! What do I do?!”

“I don’t know! I’m trying to save a life here! Just… Do what you whatever you want! Unless you have EMT training then you won’t be of much use here.”

Spitfire looked nervously towards the door, “I really can’t do anything to help?”

“No, you can’t! Go find him and keep him from doing something stupid!”

“What about Nightshade?!”

“I swear to you that I will save her. But right now I need you to go save Jett before he does something really stupid.”

“Are you sure?!”

“Yeah, there’s nothing you can do here anyway. Come on damn it!” he yelled.

“Alright,” Spitfire said softly, “Good luck.”

“Never wish good luck to someone who doesn’t need it!” he gave a confident grin.

Spitfire stood up and ran for the exit. She emerged on the side of the palace. She watched as the crowd down in the parking lot parted as a figure ran through it.

“Damn!” she yelled and spread her wings and flew after it.

***

“Yes!” Dane whooped, “Pulse baby!”

Gin ran up to him, “Well most of them are unconscious with head injuries but nothing too debilitating, however a few have broken arms, gunshot wounds and stab wounds.”

“Go get the damn guard!” Dane said.

“Alright, what’re you gonna do?!”

Dane slapped Nightshade in the face, “Get this bitch up and then leave. Get the guard and lead them to the injured and then meet me in the lobby. We’re following Spitfire.”

***

Spitfire panted as she landed. She’d followed the android’s trail perfectly but where she was eluded her. The android had run through a set of double doors that led down a flight of stairs.

Spitfire ran to follow him when her cell ran.

“Motherfucker whoever you are this is not the goddamn time!” she yelled looking at her phone. It was Dane.

She picked it up, “Yes?”

“Your sister’s pulse is back. The Guard is tending to her and her team now. They’ll be fine,” Dane said obviously relieved.

Spitfire herself breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good.”

“Where are you?”

“Where am I? I’m…”

She looked around. Runways, buildings, hangers…

“Back at base. I followed him all the way here.”

“Alright, we’re on our way.”

Spitfire hung up and the opened the set of doors and slowly made her way down the stairs. She was inside the old hanger Jett had repurposed. She opened up the second set of double doors to the hanger.

Behind them was a sight far more disturbing than everything she has just seen.

Jett was sitting on the runway with the guard pistol he’d received pointed directly at his head, the barrel resting underneath his jaw.

“Jett…” Spitfire said tears once again clouding her sight.

“Please… just go away,” he sobbed.

“Why? Why won’t you let me help you?” Spitfire asked as she slowly made her way closer to the robot.

“Because I’m dangerous…” he whispered, “Your sister is dead because of me. I’m a monster.”

“Jett,” Spitfire said, “You didn’t kill anyone. Dane got her heart beating again.”

“I shot someone with a shotgun! I stabbed people! I broke bones, electrocuted others, can’t you see that?!”

“Jett,” Spitfire said kneeling in front of him, “You’re not a monster.”

“Yes I am… Just look at what I did to those people!” he sobbed.

“And they’re going to be fine! Dane just told me the guard is helping them as we speak. You’re not a monster, you just need help.”

“How do you know that?! What kind of divine power is feeding this shit to you?!”

“Because I wouldn’t have fallen in love and still be in love with a monster!” Spitfire yelled, “The things you’ve been through were monstrous. You lost an arm, you lost your identity, you lost your family, you lost your world, no person should have to go through that!”

“I just want to go home and forget all this ever happened,” he sobbed still holding the gun.

Spitfire put an arm on his shoulder, “Jett, this his home now. Earth is gone.”

“And so will I,” he said pulling back the hammer.

“No!” Spitfire cried, tears streaming down her face, “No, don’t. Please…”

“Why?! Why can’t you just let me do this?! Why can’t you just let me die?!”

“Because I would be lost without you,” she cried, “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.”

She stared into his sapphire eyes as they both cried.

“Please,” she begged, “Please…”

Jett’s finger remained on the trigger. He still refused to be soothed or to have the weapon removed. Suddenly Spitfire had an idea. A memory the two of them shared suddenly came back to her. Should she try it? If she didn’t she would lose everything. She had to try…

She cleared her throat, “You are my sunshine… My only sunshine…”

Jett looked up at her, still crying as she sang.

“You make me happy… When Skies are grey…”

Slowly her fingers moved up to the gun and gripped it with him as she slowly removed the weapon from his grasp.

“You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you… Please don’t take my sunshine away…”

She tossed the gun away and pulled him into a welcoming embrace just as Dane and Gin burst into the room. Spitfire cried into his shoulder as she soothed him.

“Please don’t take my sunshine away…”