I'M GOING TO TAIWAN! XD If any of you have checked out my bio page, you've known for awhile that I was leaving, but now I know where. I'm so excited! But I promise I'll finish this story before I go in January since I won't be able to write or post on ffnet because of what I'm doing.

Okay, here is chapter 32.

And I think I forgot this line last chapter (oops!): I do NOT own . I'm just a not-for-profit writer trying to keep alive since the for-profit writers quit for other jobs. T_T

Chapter 32: The Final Battle

Decay and desertion consumed the landscape before them. There were a few buildings, but what was there was rapidly breaking apart, scattering digits of blue data into the dark sky. The dissipation of data in the empty void above was like the embers of a deadly blue fire dying in the black abyss of night.

In the midst of all the decay stood a large castle, the only building that was not casting blue fragments into the air. There it stood: solid, high, and formidable in the dark shadows of the land.

"That's where Myst is," Mirageman whispered to the twins.

"Figures," Lightman whispered back. "Bad guys tend to like the biggest, grandest things around."

"Aside from the fact that it's the only structure still standing," Rockman added.

Slezz sighed sadly. "It's so sad to see the true Eon Net, our beautiful home, reach this point." The rest of the navis and Eonites nodded in agreement.

"Well, we can't fix it if we don't get moving," Slash said. Again, everyone nodded before standing and beginning the trek into the ruined city. It was not long before they stopped by those they anticipated to meet:

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Dark sneered. The evil multitude behind him—an army far larger than any Lightman and Rockman had ever seen yet—snickered at their militant leader's words. "SHUT UP!" Dark barked. The snickers stopped.

"You know very well who we are, and you know why as well," Slezz snarled. The twins had never seen the normally cheerful navi so serious and angry. It seemed even the intensity of the coming battle had even reached Echo's right hand's head. "Let's just get to whole reason why we are all here—to end this once and for all. Unless you rather just save us all the trouble and surrender? 'Cause that would be convenient for all of us, I think," Slezz said.

Dark laughed. "Yeah right, Slezz."

Slezz smiled. "Thought you would say that. SNOW SHURIKEN!" With the throwing of the deadly snowflake-shaped weapons, the last battle finally began.

"You two know what to do," Mirageman said to Rockmann and Lightman. Both blue navis nodded and then slowly moved away as Mirageman and his soldiers rushed forward to battle with Myst.

"Come on, Lightman," Rockman whispered as he motioned to his left. "That tunnel should be somewhere over here."

Lightman once more nodded and followed his elder twin. They slowly made there way according to plan without looking suspicious. It would be a disaster if any of Myst's followers realized what they were doing. In the end, however, it was not too difficult to get where they needed to go: everyone was so consumed in the battle that all they saw were two small navis, battling like to the rest. Even the smarter ones of Myst's forces that would have noticed the constant, but rough, movement left would have thought that the pattern was simply the way the onslaught was driving the two. It fact, these navis would have been pleased because the twins were drifting farther and farther apart.

No one noticed when the twins had slipped from the battle all together.

"Are you okay, Lightman?" Rockman asked quietly as they darted away fromt the battle in the shadows of rocks and broken buildings.

"Yeah," Lightman said. "I tried to stay with you, but that one navi was good at manipulating the direction of his opponent. Can't say much for his defense though. Are you okay too?"

Rockman nodded, trying to mellow his thumping heart. The short separation from his brother had made him anxious, as usual. "I think that tunnel Slezz mentioned is right over here," he said, darting to the left. They came to a large broken wall with an almost unnoticeable hole beneath it.

"This it?" Lightman said as he examined the tunnel entrance. Rockman examined it closely and then nodded.

"I think so," he said.

"Okay, then let's go and kick some Myst butt," Lightman said as he squirmed into the tight, dark hole, followed by Rockman.

Once in the tunnel, Lightman gave out a low, long whistle. "Sure is dark in here."

"Yeah," Rockman agreed.

"Hope there aren't any ghosts in here," Lightman said offhandedly.

"Gh…ghosts!" Rockman yelped.

Lightman laughed. "Same old Ro…OW! Rockman! Why'd you hit me! That hurt!"

"Don't say stuff like that, Lightman!" Rockman said. "You know I don't like…like…"

"Ghosts?" Lightman finished.

"Right," Rockman said. "At any rate, we need to stay focused! Myst is not going to be an easy opponent."

"Yeah, yeah. Then let's go," Lightman said before taking off at a light jog into the dark.

Rockman shivered. "Lightman. Why'd you have to mention ghosts?" he said before following his brother into the foreboding darkness, keeping his eyes and ears open for any threat: living or not.

"Okay, when they said this tunnel led straight to the castle, I didn't think they meant into the castle," Lightman said as he hoisted himself out of the hole and into the dark halls of Myst's castle.

Rockman also crawled out of the hole, giving a sigh of relief. Luckily, they had not run into any specters in the dark, abandoned tunnel they had just come out of. Now he could finally stop thinking about ghosts. The blue battler looked around the dark halls…maybe not...

"Don't you think there would be guards? Or viruses at least?" Rockman asked.

"You'd think," Lightman answered. "But maybe he's just that sloppy and sent all his forces to the battlefield."

Rockman gave a thoughtful sigh as he mulled it over in his mind. "He may have set a trap too. Like Regal did when we attacked his space station."

"That…could be possible too," Lightman said.

"We should be careful," Rockman said. Lightman nodded in agreement. "Let's go," Rockman said and once again the two headed closer to the final battle. It was not hard to find where they were going. Echo and the rest had all given careful and detailed instructions. They had given them so many times that even Lightman (the brilliant student he had been) could recite the instructions by heart in his sleep.

Before they realized it, they were at the doors of the main great hall of Myst.

The doors opened on their own accord.

"Welcome, Twins of Light," a smooth, calm voice said as the door opened to reveal the dark room. Lightman could not help but think "that's no doubt the voice of a crazy, over-confident bad guy." The twins entered the room, ready for an attack from any direction. Myst chuckled casually, the sound of it echoing throughout the entire room so that Rockman and Lightman could not determine where the source was. "There is no reason to be so defensive. Is it because you cannot see me? Well, maybe this will help." The sound of hands being clapped echoed through the great hall and bluish-tinted lights came on, casting the room in a dim haze. The lights lit the room so that Rockman and Lightman could only just see their surroundings. To the front was a high throne in which a navi both recognized as Myst sat. "Is that better?" Myst cooed.

The brothers pointed their busters at their foe.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Myst said, shaking his head as he stood up. "You seem to think I am a real threat."

"Well duh," Lightman snapped. "You haven't given us much reason to think otherwise."

"So you've heard the terrible rumors? Well, I must assure you, they are all lies. My dear sister, Echo, always did have a way for twisting and exaggerating stories," Myst said coolly. "I never betrayed her, you see. No, it was quiet the opposite: she betrayed me. All I wanted was a better world for her, us navis, the Eonites, and of course humans as well. But Echo was selfish. She did not care if our communities were forever separated, estranged from one another and a fear between all parties."

"That may be so, Myst," Rockman said. "But your means to accomplish that wish are all wrong. There is nothing right about hurting and killing innocent people."

"If there is ever to be change, there must be sacrifices as well," Myst said flippantly, waving off the accusation with his hand.

"Even if that were true, you made no effort to reduce those sacrifices," Lightman said angrily. "You've already hurt so many: navis, Eonites, and humans alike. And even if you did bring together the dimensions, my gut tells me you'd be a wicked leader who would 'sacrifice' more with little thought or proposition if they threatened you! There's a difference to fighting for people and pure terrorism!"

Mysts countenance shifted from one of friendliness and aloofness to one of pure hatred and wickedness. "This world must be punished for its crimes! I am that means by which punishment must come! But I see you are as stupid as the rest! Blindsided by humanity and my sister! Very well, this will be your grave." Both Lightman and Rockman barely got their bearings as the ground began to shake. "I'm truly sorry that you'll never see my perfect world."

"Myst! That's enough!"

The ground ceased to shake and the three occupants of the room looked up to see Echo, glowing softly with a gentle white light in the mid-air.

Myst smiled evilly. "Why Sister, isn't it nice to see you? Come to see the demise of your precious twin soldiers, have you?"

"Brother, I have all trust in them," Echo said, giving the twins a smile as she said this. She returned to her brother: "I am here to give you one last chance. Come, let us together build up a better world through a better means—one where there need be no more death."

Myst laughed. "As if! Passive ways never work! This world must suffer in order to build a new world where no one will be kicked out like we were! Everyone will have a purpose."

"And if they do not fit your purpose?" Echo asked.

"They will be disposed of," Myst said, waving his hand off. "No one will be left to wander without a purpose, to face the sorrows we did."

"That's messed up!" Lightman burst out. "If they don't have a purpose that you see, you'll kill them! Where is the justice in that! That is worse than what happened to you!"

Rockman picked up: "Lightman's right! Everyone has a purpose—but how can they find it if you kill them before they find it?"

"You don't know what it's like to have no purpose!" Myst yelled angrily.

"But you did have one," Rockman said. "Even if you could not be a base of the internet like for what you were originally designed, you fulfilled a great purpose by helping the Eonites in their time of need." Myst glared at them angrily, but Rockman continued, "Our purpose is established every time we help someone, even if it is only one person. By helping one person at a time—that is how the world is truly changed."

"You can never force change," Echo said. "Gentle, kind means always reap more rewards than death."

"Shut up!" Myst barked angrily. "None of you know anything! Parents punish children when they misbehave! Justice systems punish people when they commit crimes! There always needs to be a punishment to remind beings to never do something bad again! And I am the one who needs to punish the world for their misdeeds!" Myst then looked up and glared at Echo. "BREAKING CHAINS!"

Before anyone could move, dark, thick chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around Echo.

"ECHO!" both blue navis yelled as they saw the attack tighten around the Eon Net leader.

"Let her go!" Lightman demanded, pointing his buster at Myst.

Myst smiled evilly. "Who am I to deny the twin navis of legend? Very well." The chains loosened around Echo, causing her to fall limply to the ground. Once more, the brothers called out Echo's name, but found they could not move. Myst laughed as his chains wrapped around Lightman and Rockman. "I'll let you have the pleasure of decaying first!"

"Lightman!" Rockman called out weakly, trying his best to reach out for his younger brother. Lightman tried to reach as well, Myst laughing hysterically as he watched the twins' futile efforts.

"Hold on Rockman," Lightman called out weakly.

"My...my data's breaking apart," Rockman said.

"That's the intended effect of my 'breaking chains' attack," Myst said, his eyes gleefully taking in the scene before him. "My chains wrap around you and then break apart the data that they engulf. You see, my intended purpose was to clean up the internet by taking waste data and breaking it apart. Then, from that, Echo was to build up new, working things—things that had a purpose. Sort of like a recycle program. I'm here to break apart this world and build a better one."

"You'll never win," Lightman said.

"Oh, but I am winning," Myst said.

"Not if we can help it," Echo said, struggling to her feet. "REPLENISHING LIGHT!"

A bright light emitted from Echo and flew toward the struggling navis. It tore the chains apart and released the twins. The light continued to engulf the twins as they were rebuilt and provided with new energy. However, once the light faded, Echo fell back to the ground, exhausted by her efforts.

"You're always in the way!" Myst screamed. "But you will not interfere anymore! DARK DISMAL!" A dark ray fell from the ceiling and engulfed Echo. She let out a deafening scream as the attack began to tear her apart. The twins ran to try and pull her out, but someone beat them to her by dashing into the ray and knocking the barely surviving Echo out.

"Green!" both twins called surprised once they were able to see who had rescued Echo.

The youngest Eon child panted heavily. "Don't mind me! I'll get Echo out! Just take care of Myst! You are the only ones who can save us!" she cried before logging out with Echo in tow, never giving Rockman and Lightman a chance to respond.

Myst snorted. "A lot of good that will do! There will be no where for them to go when I win."

"Then let's make sure you don't win!" Rockman said. "SAMURAI SWORD!" Rockman summoned the weapon and leapt at Myst, followed closely by Lightman, who had summoned a paladin sword.

Myst smirked. "Let's finish this. BREAKING CHAINS!"

Having seen the attack before, both were able to dodge the attack and keep from being intertwined by the long series of links. However, the chains did fulfill a purpose by keeping the twins from hitting Myst.

"Okay, different approach," Lightman said, putting away the Paladin Sword. "High Cannon!" The blue weapon formed on Lightman's hand and the navi took careful aim. "FIRE!"

Myst laughed as several chains burst from the ground, creating a forminable blockade against Lightman's attack. "That didn't work. So what are you going to do now?"

Lightman grimaced than smirked. "Let's try this! Style Change! Aqua Custom!" Several rings surrounded Lightman as he was engulfed in a bright blue light.

"So this is the legendary style change, huh?" Myst said. "I am so honored that you consider me an opponent worthy of facing it."

"Oh, shut up," Lightman said as he came out of the style change. "Spread Gun! Slot In!" Lightman's hands began to glow as aqua custom took effect and multiplied the Spread Gun data to create a program advance. "HYPER BURST!"

The large wave of energy tore its way toward Myst with such force that not even his chains could stand up to the attack. However, they did their job by reducing hyper burst's attack so that Myst was able to dodge, unscathed.

"Nice attack. Too bad it wasn't enough,"

"You forget there are two of us!" Rockman said. "And Lightman gave me enough room and time for this: DREAM SWORD!"

"Curse you," Myst spat as he attempted to dodge the second program advance, succeeding in only avoiding a direct hit. He stood up from the fallen position that such an attack had caused. He chuckled to himself as he did.

"What's so funny?" Lightman demanded.

Myst grinned at them. "That one hit was not bad," he said. "It's been a long time since I had a worthy opponent and I guess it caught me off guard." His smiled widened. "I learned my mistake. Now the battle really begins!" Myst opened his arms as if to embrace something. "DARK DISMAL!"

Two of the dark rays that had damaged Echo shot down. The attack was so quick that Lightman and Rockman barely dodged the deadly attacks. Myst, however, just laughed when he saw the twins dodge. "It won't be so easy," he said to himself.

"What's he up to?" Lightman asked.

"I don't kn…ah! Lightman!" Rockman barely pushed his brother away as another ray hit where they had been moments before. Rockman looked around. Everywhere, Myst's evil attack cast down more rays, seeking its opponent out. But what was more, rays that had already appeared remained and where growing. In a few moments, the entire room would be one giant Dark Dismal attack.

"Get it now?" Myst jeered. "You can't escape! Soon there will be no where to run!"

Both Lightman and Rockman grimaced. "Well then, we'll just have to stop you from finishing the attack!" Lightman yelled. "Vulcan!" Again, the Aqua Custom style change multiplied the chip to create a program advance. "INFINITY VULCAN!"

Myst just chuckled to himself as the bullets from the attack bounced off an aura around the evil navi.

"Fine," Lightman spat. "North Wind!"

"Fumikomizan!" Rockman yelled a second later. He disappeared from his spot as Lightman's North Wind attack blew down Myst's shield.

Again Myst laughed as he grabbed Rockman by the wrist just as he appeared, countering the sword on Rockman's other hand with his own sword, which emitted off a dark aura.

Rockman's eyes grew wide. "A Dark Chip!"

"Something like," he said as he twisted Rockman's arm to throw him back a little before slashing him with his Dark Sword.

"ROCKMAN!" Lightman yelled as he watched his brother being thrown back against the wall behind Myst with incredible force. He yelped as his arm brushed against the ever approaching Dark Dismal attack.

"So much for the Eonite legend of the Twins of Light!" Myst said. "It's all a bunch of fairy…"

"DARKNESS OVERLOAD!"

Myst never finished his sentence as the dark ball of energy hit him from above. Lightman and Rockman let out a small sigh of relief as the Dark Dismal rays dissipated. Their gaze turned upward.

"Who dares...!" Myst cried out, standing up weakly after taking a direct hit from such a large attack. He chuckled again when he looked up and saw who had attacked him. "Come to join the party, have?" Myst said. "To bad neither you nor your friends will be going home after this one, …Forte."