And in that split second, Sylvie Greisser thought that everything would finally change. That she would finally be able to let go of all the pain and hate that had now polluted her soul. That it would finally change with Ming Chow's death...

It didn't. At the last moment, Ming had managed raise his GM Quell's shield just in time, and her GM Custom's shots were once again fired in vain. And Ming was shooting back.

"I've got you now!" Ming thought angrily as he spotted where the flashes had come from, firing his own volley in return. A small cloud of dirt appeared, but no explosion indicating a catastrophic kill.

"You will still die, Ming..." the ghostly voice continued, now drifting ever more from sanity. A stream of shells suddenly struck Ming from the left, wrecking his shield and damaging part of the arm mechanism.

But Ming wasn't about to give up, Sylvie saw, as he suddenly threw his own grenade at Sylvie's MS. Sylvie dodged long before the grenade could explode, but Ming had already fired a follow-on volley in return, which found their mark and shredded the last of Sylvie's shield.

And so, the two mobile suits, now lacking the protection their shields had once afforded, now stood in front of each other, weapons drawn once again. Both of their pilots were now breathing heavily. There was no margin of error left for either of them now. A hit meant death.

And this time, Ming was the first to fire, strafing to the right as he let loose a volley at Sylvie's GM Custom. But Sylvie was prepared. More than prepared. Almost lazily, she dodged out of the way of the bullets and fired back, just barely nicking Ming's arm.

Sylvie grinned slightly as she saw one of her shots finding their mark. The one controlling her was now overjoyed that it had only been a scratch hit. It just wouldn't be fun if Ming died quickly. The better he should suffer... slowly... and painfully...

"Damn it!" Ming growled as he tried to fire back, only to see more shells heading towards him. This time he was less fortunate. All three shells had found their mark, severely damaging his left arm. The b***** wasn't just good, he reflected as he fired a volley that was easily avoided. She was being superhuman. She WAS like a ghost... a ghost trying to...

"Come on Ming... fight me some more..." Sylvie's possessed voice continued, "Let me torture you some more... Let me make you suffer some more..."

"Shut up!" Ming growled angrily as he tried to avoid the next set of shells heading towards him. One shell found its mark, very nearly puncturing one of his fuel tanks. He muttered a curse. She was better marksman than him. He'd never win in a long range firefight unless...

"Does this hurt?" Sylvie suddenly asked as she fired another volley, this one just barely missing Ming's cockpit, "Because I hope it did..."

"Damn..." Ming muttered on. The shells HAD missed him, but several of the cockpit monitors had exploded and showered him with razor sharp fragments. He cringed from the pain of the wounds but knew he had to ignore it. If he didn't...

"What about this?" Sylvie asked as she began to laugh hysterically once again, this time exploding the GM Quell's head. A now distant part of her was now begging her to stop, but it would be of no avail. She would kill him. It was all that mattered.

"I won't give up to a murderer like you!" Ming angrily shouted back as he aimed his machinegun and began to fire wildly, quickly going through his remaining ammunition...

"Oh..." Sylvie replied mockingly as she easily evaded his wild shots while scoring hits of her own, "You're frustrated now... Good... Better to die with your mind in pain as well. You like what I'm doing to you, don't you? You love the way I slowly inch you towards your grave. Because I am loving every single moment of it..."

"Shut up!" Ming screamed back as he emptied his clip, "I could never love anything from a monster like you!"

"It takes a monster to make a monster, Ming..." Sylvie replied defiantly back as she aimed at Ming's now empty machine gun. Not a single one of his shots had found its mark. Four of hers did, leaving neat holes over the Quell's now damaged frame.

"So be it, but I won't lose to you!" Ming screamed back as he suddenly threw his now empty machine gun right at Sylvie, sending it flying straight for her GM Custom's monosensor...

Which Sylvie almost lazily evaded. She was really loving this now, Sylvie realized. She was really loving killing people. She was now loving the torture she was inflicting on Ming... A part of her seemed to scream for herself to stop, but it was easily muted out by her now death obsessed soul, before being blotted out altogether. She faced Ming once again and prepared to fire...

Only to see Ming charging her. And she fired. Again and again. Firing even as he got closer and closer...

"Don't look down on me!" Ming screamed on as more shells ripped through his mobile suit. One shot finally broke his left arm in two, while two shells managed to pass through his fuel tanks without exploding. But he kept charging on... Not caring...

And then Sylvie saw it. It was a second grenade clutched firmly in Ming's right hand. Sylvie tried to evade as Ming threw the grenade at her, but he was too close. Already far too close, and the grenade quickly began tumbling towards her...

"I got her!" Ming thought as the grenade inched slowly towards the GM Custom's chest. "I can do it... I promised Jake... I..."

But then, faster than he thought possible, the GM Custom sidestepped out of the way, and the lone grenade just found itself flying through an empty field. An empty field... save for a lone vehicle suddenly motoring down its path...

"Oh ****!" Ming thought as he saw his grenade start arcing right for the vehicle. To his horror, he realized the vehicle was an ambulance, and...

The ambulance tried to swerve out of the incoming grenade's path, but it was too late. The grenade exploded just beside it, sending the ambulance flying through the air before landing in a massive heap upside down... Ming trembled. "Sandra... she couldn't have been in it... The chances were..."

But she was. Suddenly, a lone bloodied figure dragged herself out of the wreck. Her hair. Her beautiful face now set in a shocked expression. It was her... it was Sandra...

"SANDRA!" Ming screamed as he began to motion towards her, only to see her drop down to the ground, a small pool of blood now spreading from her unmoving body. Ming couldn't move. He had just killed her... he had just...
-----------------------------

"It hurt..." Sandra Miller thought as she felt the life slowly draining away from her body. "But I can't yet... I can't... Not while Ming..."

But the pain was simply too much, and she found herself drifting into the darkness...
-----------------------------

"Oh? Was Sandra her name?" Sylvie mocked, "Too bad for you I guess. So much the better for me. Does it hurt even more now?"

And in that instant, guilt turned to hate, and hate turned to sheer determination. Ming once again faced his tormentor and lighted his beam saber, before readying his stance...

A stance Sylvie was also quick to follow. Throwing away her now empty machine gun, she had also produced her own beam saber. Unlike Max before her, she had trained extensively in the use of melee weapons as well, and now she was really going to have some fun. The thought of Ming being hacked to pieces simply felt so satisfying... So much so that she couldn't wait to plunge the blade down his heart...

"Come on!" Ming growled back, "Let's end it now!"

"Oh wait now... I'm not done torturing you yet..." Sylvie replied as she began to laugh once again, "Take this!"

And then Ming saw it come. Sylvie's first thrust of their duel. Ming had just barely managed to side step out of the way, but a part of his torso had been scorched by the incoming blade. Sylvie then began to withdraw her saber to slash him again, but this time Ming had managed to bring his own saber to bear, parrying Sylvie's determined attack.

"Not bad, but I won't let you go so easily..." Sylvie continued on as she began to slash madly at Ming, laughing as she did so as Ming's GM Quell slowly came apart around him. She slashed on and on, being blocked consummately by the desperate Ming, but with every slash she took he felt more of his strength draining away, and if he didn't stop her soon...

"Die! Die!" Sylvie said on as she continued her maniacal laughter and her determined attack on Ming. She slashed Ming on and on, causing ever more damage even as Ming tried to block with his own saber...

But then, Ming took a chance. Just as Sylvie's saber started to come down again Ming changed his stance and began to thrust his saber. Sylvie, surprised, tried to evade even as he own saber began to rip through Ming's GM Quell, but to no avail. He was too close, and even she was not fast enough to stop him. Knowing that death was probably only seconds away, Sylvie continued to apply force to her own attack as well, slicing the GM Quell's torso slowly towards its cockpit, very willing to die as long as she could take Ming with her...

Ming knew that his GM Quell was now being slowly sliced in half, but he ignored it entirely. At least this way Sandra would be avenged. He aimed right for the GM Custom's cockpit and began to thrust his saber right for it...

And at the same time, both pilots closed their eyes. They knew it was over for both of them. And the world around them would soon be on fire...

And so it came as the greatest surprise when Ming felt himself open his eyes once again.

He was alive. He was really alive. He looked at the ceiling right above him. It was glowing red, but the saber had failed to penetrate his cockpit. He was still alive.

And his mobile suit was on the ground, now lying right on top of the enemy mobile suit and pinning it to the ground. The force of his thrust must have carried the both down to the ground and...

He had missed. The cockpit of the GM Custom was still intact.

Ming growled as he realized that crazy Federal b**** was still alive, but the GM Custom seemed to be unmoving, so perhaps she was dead or unconscious after all. Not that he could do anything about it now. Both of their mobile suits were out of power.

And then another thought entered Ming's mind: Sandra. He had to...

And so, Ming quickly began to pry the cockpit's hatch open, which he did only after much pain and difficulty, thanks to his many bodily injuries. But there was just enough space between the two mobile suits for him to pry the hatch open, and he quickly managed to squeeze out of the now bloody cockpit, before jumping down to the ground and running towards the ruined ambulance.

And what he saw made him sick down to his stomach. The driver's body was still in the wrecked ambulance, missing several appendages and his head. But what made him feel worse was Sandra, a few feet away and lying on the ground, her once white coat now red with her blood...

And he rushed towards her, gently holding her up and feeling for her pulse. It was still there, but growing ever fainter. He called out for her name.
-----------------------------

"Sandra? Who's calling me?" Sandra thought as her mind began to feel as though the darkness had begun to envelop her. "Who was it? Who...?"

"Ming..." Sandra realized. It was Ming.
-----------------------------

"Sandra?" Ming asked, overjoyed as he saw Sandra slowly blinking her eyes open. He immediately felt tears well up in his eyes... She was alive... there was still hope... she could...

"Ming? Is... that..." Sandra started weakly.

"Sandra, don't talk," Ming replied, "It'll be alright. It'll be..."

"I can't make it Ming..." Sandra replied as her voice grew even weaker, "I'm going to... going to die... very... soon... I must..."

"Sandra... no, you won't die!" Ming protested, "I won't..."

"Promise... that... you... won't kill... Won't be... a... murderer..." Sandra stammered on as she felt more blood gush out of her body, even as Ming's warm arms tried to stop the bleeding. She herself crying as she felt Ming's tears from on her cheeks. He really did love her, but there was no way she could love him back... She could only show him what his hate would bring, and if he didn't learn that...

"I promise Sandra... I promise..." Ming assured as he desperately took Sandra's hand, "Please, just don't die... I could never forgive myself if..."

"Not... your... fault..." Sandra replied as she felt more tears well up, "I'll... I'll be the last... The last one you will kill..."

"Sandra... please..." Ming pleaded. No... don't die... I'd rather die than to see her die. She had such a pure heart despite all her pain, and now...

No! This wasn't fair... I should...

"Ming, our fight isn't over yet..." an entirely different female voice suddenly declared. Ming turned around and finally saw her face to face: It was her. That Federal pilot who had made it her mission to kill him. And she carried a gun.

Sylvie grinned in the most vile way she could manage as she aimed her pistol at Ming's head. The last frantic calls of her former self to stop had now come and gone. She had now purged herself of such weaknesses. There was no hesitation as she pulled the trigger.

Ming didn't move as the bullet started to streak towards his head. He just stared on, knowing that death would come very soon...

But Sandra did move. And with the last of her strength, she performed the last selfless act in what had been a life filled with selfless acts. She threw herself over Ming, taking the bullet meant for him with her own body. She screamed as she felt the last bullet rip through her body, before vomiting a pint of blood. And then, there was only silence.

Ming only stared at Sandra for a moment, before an indescribable rage begin to fill his heart. He reached for his pockets and produced a pistol, slowly bringing it to bear at the one who had caused him all this torment: Captain Sylvie Greissie.

And Sylvie, was only too happy to shoot again. The part of her that once weeped for those innocents who had died was now gone. Taken away and warped by her hate which was finally let out this day. And so she fired, sending a second bullet heading straight for Ming...

But this time, it was Ming who dodged this bullet, but just barely, as the bullet did graze his arm. But he shot back, and Sylvie was too surprised to avoid...

And so, bullet after bullet struck Sylvie's body. One struck her in the shoulder, while another struck her in the abdomen and made her drop to her knees. Even as she yelped out in pain Ming fired at her, hitting her leg and collapsing her to the ground. As she tried to stand up to fight despite her wounded body, Ming mercilessly fired again, the shot ripping through one of her lungs.

And then it stopped. Stopped as Ming paused to stand right over her. Sylvie felt her blood start gushing out of her body, and her world seemed to slowly turn black. The pain was now unbearable, and she knew that she had failed again. She had failed Max again, and now she would never see him again. She had given up everything, even her own soul, just to avenge him, but it had still not been enough. And despite his pledge, he would never forgive her for that... For being such a useless b*****... She then cringed as she felt Ming lay something cold in the back of her head. She knew it to be the barrel of the gun.

"Shoot me..." a part of Sylvie begged. "For pity's sake shoot me... I don't want to be like this... I don't want to be a murderer... I don't want to be a harbinger of death. I don't know what I've done to myself, but I don't want to stay like this any further. Please kill me Ming. Let me share the same fate as Max... If I stay like this, the part of me that's a killer will be back, and I can't stop her anymore... She'll just come and torment me again until I willingly give in to her wishes, and I'll just kill and kill until my soul will be beyond redemption. Kill and kill until any chance for me to be human again will be gone. Kill until I'll be her slave forever. Kill me now before I become that... While I still have something called hope... Please..."

Ming almost grinned as he felt himself increase the pressure on the trigger, until he saw something that completely change his mind, and destiny, forever. It was Sandra. She was still alive.

"You... you..." Sandra started.

"Sandra?" Ming asked as he rushed towards her once again, "Sandra, are you..."

"You haven't changed at all..." Sandra finished before Ming could hold her again, "You're still a killer. You still haven't learned... You..."

"Sandra... no... don't..." Ming started.

"It... it wasn't enough..." Sandra continued on as she began to cry, not listening to what Ming was saying anymore, "What I did wasn't enough... Now... I can't ever... Smith..."

"Sandra..." Ming started, wanting to take another step towards Sandra to comfort her, even if just a little, in her last moments. But she didn't want his comfort anymore. All she cared about now, he realized, that she had failed him... and that she was never going to be able to redeem herself to all of her loved ones... and... and...

Then Sandra reached for her coat again and found the picture that she had kept for so long, holding all of those she had loved so dear. It was now soaked in blood, but Sandra still looked at it with a smile on her lips. As if she was trying to remember them all... one last time...

And then she looked up at the sky, before closing her eyes and holding the picture close to her heart. She weeped on quietly, alone. She tried to smile again, for all of them, just once more... But she couldn't. The only thing she could think of now was her failures. And how she could never forgive herself now... Forgive herself for the one thing she had done wrong in her life.

Finally, she broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. Despite all of her hope, despite of her own wishes, she still wanted to be with them. But she couldn't. She could never let herself be with them again. Not with all the unresolved guilt that would now haunt her forever...

"Sandra.. please..." Ming begged as he saw Sandra breakdown. He didn't want this to happen. He didn't want her to die this way. Now, all that she could think of was that she'd be alone forever, that the ones she loved would never be with her again... she...

But it was too late. Sandra started walking down the slow, painful road to her death thinking that there was no hope left for her soul.
-----------------------------

"This is reckless..." Arnold Jefferson warned as they finally got out of the dock area undetected, though he was relieved that he had not died by decompression as he had feared.

"But now, we can search for Ming..." Estella Madrigal replied more enthusiastically, "All we need to do now is to find him and..."

"Oh my God..." Jefferson interrupted as he saw the sole standing figure beside the two wrecked GMs right in front of him, "It's him. It's Ming..."
-----------------------------

Ming just stared at Sandra's body, dumbfounded. It was all his fault... She had died without hope because of him... All for what? Independence? What had he been fighting for all along?

That Federal b***** Ming remembered. She caused this... she deserved to...

I'm a ghost that has come back to haunt you, Ming... a ghostly voice reminded.

No... she didn't... Ming realized as he turned and looked at the Federal Captain's now pained face. She wasn't speaking, but her eyes were different now. They were filled with sadness. It looked as if she was begging to die... And...

And she looked just like Sandra... Ming realized as his stomach tied itself into a tight knot. She looked just like Sandra when she told me her story. Of all the loss she had to go through, of all the...

You took away the only man I could ever love... a voice reminded.

And I realized all I did was make another copy of myself... another voice reminded.

Oh God... Ming realized. I've been... I've been making people like Sandra all along... I've been causing so much pain in others and never realized it... I killed even those who could have been spared... I... I...

I'm a murderer... I'm a monster... They were all right... It was true...

Ming began to aim his gun at himself. This was the only just punishment. For one who had caused all of this pain and...

"Ming! Stop! What the hell?!" a familiar voice started.

"Jefferson?" Ming thought. "Here?"

"Ming!" Jefferson shouted as he grabbed the gun from Ming's hand, "What in God's name were you thinking?!"

"Jefferson sir I..." Ming started, dazed.

"Come on! Let's get out of here now!" Estella ordered angrily as he began to drag Ming away.

"Yun..." Ming remembered. "I have to make sure..."

"Sir! Are you alright?!" a familiar voice shouted. It was the young Zeon private, who had made it after all...

"Who are you?!" Jefferson asked as he pointed the gun at Yun.

"A friend..." Ming answered quietly as he took one last look at Sandra, "If we're going... then let's go now..."
-----------------------------

"Kill me..." Sylvie thought on. "Please..."

But the bullet never came. Ming had already left long ago.

"No..." she thought on. "Please... don't before..."

And then she felt it coming back. That urge of hers to kill. She was too weak to move, but the urge was there, cursing Ming for beating her and...

And there was another still out there... Sylvie realized. Another one in pain... Another who was in deeper pain than her... How could?

"No hope..." Sylvie thought. She also felt that there was no hope... just like herself... Was she the one Ming had called Sandra? Was she?

And then the killer in her began to encroach upon her once again, relentless in its desire to kill...

She's dying... Sylvie realized, not knowing how she could know. She's dying without hope and...

No... I can't let her die like that... Sylvie decided as she felt the killing side of her reared its ugly head again. I can't...
-----------------------------

"I'm going to be alone now..." Sandra thought on as she felt the last vestiges of her life slowly fade into darkness. "Smith... I..."

"I'm here... I've been waiting..." a ghostly voice told her.

"Smith?"
-----------------------------

"Satisfied?" The murderous side of Sylvie asked.

Yes... Sylvie replied as she felt the pain of the other one finally subside. The last gift of her humanity. I... I guess... It's over for me now, isn't it? You're going to lock me away forever...

Oh yes... I will...

Please... don't... no...

Notice: This story and all related material is copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting, no part of this story may be taken by any other person. If you wish to use any material, please contact me first. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by their respective companies.