//------------------------------// // Prologue. // Story: A Twist of Fate // by ZachTheBrony //------------------------------// Zeke Dunbar, Cole MacGrath's best bud for life, stood beside the memorial to Cole in New Marais, the savior of the third rock from the sun that they lived on. Mourning the memorial to his lifelong pal, he could only look briefly back upon the past few hours in which Cole was still living. - - - - Nearly Two Days Ago... Zeke could only hope that Cole had the RFI charged up fully, the RFI being a device that Dr. Wolfe said would use Cole's power to defeat The Beast and get rid of the Plague that the monster had brought about. As Zeke paced about the rooftop of an apartment he was perched on anxiously, he could see the carnage that The Beast was causing far into the distance. "Damn... I sure hope Cole gets that RFI up 'n running." he thought aloud. Kuo had taken off after Cole's decision to help humanity, and Zeke thought only one thing... The bitch betrayed us. 'Least Cole whipped her ass. Sitting back on the worn and beaten-up couch that was placed on the roof, Zeke waited almost impatiently for a response from Cole. "C'mon Cole, shouldn't take you this long, brother." he complained, taking a swig of his second-last beer. His prayers were answered, when Cole's voice came over the walkie. "Zeke... It's fully charged." Cole's voice came over the walkie, with a tinge of relief, exhaustion and confidence in his tone. 'Thank God,' Zeke quickly thought, mentally relieved. He pressed the button that allowed him to speak, and said, "Go on man, push the button." he encouraged. After a short pause, Cole's voice came over the walkie again, "No... no, not just yet." he said, before cutting short the conversation between them. "Dammit," Zeke stood up in annoyance, seeing The Beast in the distance, he used the binoculars he had on him to scout out the situation. Cole was now assaulting The Beast mercilessly, hitting the behemoth with multiple blasts of electricity. Not even a minute passed, before The Beast fell to its knees, nearly falling over completely as it used its massive hand to support itself, followed by the other after a silent pause, causing Zeke's anxiety to rise quickly as he seen only the back of the Beast. Suddenly, a light-blue beam of energy flew into the air, going past the atmosphere of the planet, the bright light making Zeke shudder and look away, covering his eyesight. 'He sure as hell pushed 'er!' He thought, looking up to see a brilliant blue sphere of the same energy forming around the planet, only to be stopped by a monstrous explosion. Zeke saw the monsters on the ground drop, one-by-one. 'Yeah, that RFI worked alright.' He thought with relief. - - - - Around Two Days Afterwards... Zeke now stood before the newly-placed memorial to Cole MacGrath, his best friend. Cole's iconic weapon- the Amp stood proudly out from the stone encasement it now laid in. They had the statue made the day after the RFI destroyed the Beast, but Zeke came to it the day after it was up. People were looking with a sad smile upon the memorial. But Zeke still had one last thing he needed to do. - - - - Present Time... Tears stung Zeke's eyes, as he muttered, "I'll miss 'ya, buddy." while looking up at the statue, memories of his and Cole's friendship skyrocketing through his mind. "Least 'ya didn't die in vain, Cole..." he slid his hand off of the statue, as ambulance sirens wailed, probably carrying the injured to the hospital in the distance. Zeke coughed, before popping open his last beer as he walked from the curb. He looked back to the memorial. Taking a good chunk of the liquid from the bottle, Zeke pulled it away from his mouth, and saluted the memorial with a cheers while walking, "This one's for you, brother."