Far in the distance was a nuclear warhead hanging just out from a cloud. Not good. Although the missile seemed far away and frozen, it wasn't within his time bubble, which meant the missile was a lot closer now. So Crysilis calculated that, from the time he'd spent in the bubble and the estimated speed of missile, the warhead must be a half-minute away.

He thought for a moment and bent down with the orb under his arm. Using his energy, he formed the glow over Vecto's foot and yanked it from its time lock. Then he disappeared.

In a flash, he reappeared above the gargantuan nuclear warhead and froze time around it. His calculations had been correct. The missile was at the expected location-about twenty nautical miles above the SS6 military complex. It was enough distance to be safe. Holding the orb in one arm, he stuck Vecto's foot to the hull of the warhead, then removed Streamline's bomb and attached it to the foot. With that done, he activated the bomb and disappeared, returning time to its respective place, relying on Vecto's Foot Missiles to do the rest.

* * *

Time had resumed for Streamline. He was anticipating the blunt force of Vecto's 0.E blast, but was saved by a crystalloid barricade inches from his eyes. Sweat trickled down his face as the zero point energy blast was sucked into some mysterious void. He looked beyond to see Vecto's body collapse into pieces, as if heaven itself had intervened. That sight was followed by a brilliant light in the sky. Streamline looked up to see an explosion in the stratosphere, followed by the delayed thud of an earth-shattering boom. The sheer thunder of it hurt Streamline's ears, and the force of the shockwave pressed him to the ground. It was amazing, absolutely amazing, that he was still alive, he thought.

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The bomb! he suddenly remembered. He looked at his hand, but the bomb was missing. Streamline diverted his glance to Vecto, whose pieces were spread across the ground-except for one foot and his orb. The blast stopping, Vecto collapsing-it had happened all too fast, and there was only one being who could have allowed this: The Zar of Time.

As the explosion overhead died into the clouds and loose dirt rolled across Vecto's dissembled frame, a gleam from the sun made a small ornament beside him glare. It was a cross, a black and silver cross adorned with diamonds. He had seen it hanging in Gyro's bedroom once.

Well, buddy, he thought as if speaking to Gyro, looks like they took Vecto home with ya after all. He grabbed the cross and lifted it in the air, snapping the blade out, familiar with Gyro's story of the cross.

"Rest in peace," he said, holding back tears as he stabbed it into the ground.