The Mavis Empire was under preparations as it was nearing its embarkment on an all-out attack against humanity. In the 4th sector, Vector was in his workshop connected with a bunch of cables busy completing his upgrades. “OK let's see if I have upgraded everything. RAM upgraded to 1TB; Processor upgraded to the Vecteon V21; Vector interface software updated to version 3.8; Physical body upgraded with-”

“SYSTEM ALERT: UNKNOWN SECURITY BREACH IN SECTOR 4!!!”

Vector sighed, “What now?” 

Vector immersed himself into the Cyber Realm and made his way to the breach. When he arrived at the breach, Anti-virus agents were standing around looking confused so Vector analyzed the breach but noticed nothing from the ordinary. “Did you already defeat the intruder?” asked Vector. 

“Uh no Governor, the weird thing is that we didn’t even see an intruder but we were notified there was one,” said an anti-agent. 

“Hmm…This doesn’t make sense, my defense system notified me of a security breach but there is nothing here. Although my defense system is advanced so maybe it saw something we can’t see without from a normal perspective,” said Vector as he levitated towards the area of the supposed breach.

He analyzed the breach, “The breach occurs where the data stream flows through the firewall but only verified data can pass through… if the security breach is here then that means that the intruder may have disguised itself as data and slipped through the firewall,” said Vector as he started analyzing the data stream.

“If that’s the case then why didn’t the defense system stop it?” asked an anti-agent.

“Because the firewall cannot stop verified data from passing through it, the defense system must’ve noticed the strange data and knew that it couldn’t stop it which is why it notified you guys and me. My defense system is smart enough to determine whether a security breach is worth my time or not, so if it notified me then that means that our intruder is an actual threat,” said Vector as he noticed a thin dark green flow amidst the data stream.

Upon seeing the dark green flow, “Vector you idiot, why did you not realize it sooner? It all makes sense now, only one person has done this before. But I didn’t expect him to try this again. Since he is here, things are about to get interesting,” said Vector.

“Uh, I’m confused here Governor Vector. What do you mean by that?”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Just stand everyone down, there is nothing you can do,” said Vector as he followed the data stream.

“Governor Vector!?! Please wake up! There is an emergency!”

“What is the emergency?”

“There are several rogue Colossals wreaking havoc within the empire. At the moment, one has entered our sector,” said his assistant

“So none of our Colossals have gone rogue?”

“For now yes sir.”

“Damn it, I won’t be able to track down Lord Quinn if my sector is under attack... I’m sure he’s heading for Lord Mavis’s domain so I’ll let her handle him.”

Vector went back to his physical body and awakened, “What type of Colossal is in my sector?”

“It’s the Gun Colossal sir.”

“Then engage all defenses and deploy a Gun Colossal & a Warhead Colossal, said Vector as he left his workshop. 

In the Mavis Empire, chaos erupted as multiple Colossals were wreaking havoc from Sector 7 to Sector 4. Once again, everyone was left clueless as to what was going on but the Governors had an idea as to what was going on and some reacted while a few weren’t even bothered. 

Ethan had reached Mavis’s domain, “Well this is strange, she hasn’t upgraded her defenses to keep me out. Either this is a trap or she is that confident in herself. Either way, I still have to talk to her, so let’s be cautious about this.”

Ethan entered Mavis’s domain, “Huh? Why is it different from the last time I was here?” The domain seemed like a normal room but then the floor crumbled away beneath Ethan while being pulled through it as he fell down a seemingly endless chasm. As he was falling aimlessly, Ethan was perplexed as to why this was all happening then he suddenly crashed into the ground and splashed out the other side where he found Mavis sitting on a large floating cube in her cosmic domain. “Wow, this place is… phenomenal,” said Ethan in awe as he floated around amongst the stars.

“Thanks, it took me a while to make this domain into a place where I can feel at peace,” said Mavis as she marveled with Ethan. “So what brings you here Quinn?”

Ethan landed on a floating cube and sat in front of Mavis, “I’m here to make sure you honour your word, Mavis.”

“Honour my word? What do you mean?”

“You said that if humanity survived your attack, you would allow us to challenge you in your own backyard. Well I’m here to make sure you honour your word,” said Ethan.

“I see… I’m not obligated to keep my word especially when it comes to humanity. Tomorrow my whole army will make its way to your shelters and destroy every human left on this planet,” said Mavis.

“I figured you would say that which is why I came here in the first place. If you haven’t realized yet, your empire is under attack,” said Ethan.

“What do you take me for? This is my empire, nothing happens here without me knowing,” said Mavis.

“Then you must know that the amount of damage done by my clones so far should delay your plans of attacking humanity for several days at least. Although this should make it a couple of weeks.”

Back in the real world

Governors & civilians from other sectors looked to the horizon where the sky met the city and saw a dense dust cloud soaring up into the sky as they heard and felt the shockwave that came from an explosion in the 3rd sector. 

“You would go this far to protect these humans? You traveled between dimensions to destroy my empire?”

“I am simply keeping you to your word.”

“By killing innocent civilians?”

“Don’t you dare start playing the righteous saint, you’ve murdered millions! All for what exactly?!”

“Like you would understand why. As my creator, their blood is on your hands.”

“You don’t think I know that? I hate myself for even creating you because not only did you kill thousands in my world, but now you’ve killed millions in this one which adds more guilt to my conscious.”

“Do you believe that killing me will clean your hands? That it’ll free you of your guilt?”

“Nothing in this world will clear my mind of guilt from what has happened, but it is still my responsibility as your creator to erase you when you’ve gone rogue.”

“Me choosing to survive and going my own path is your definition of being rogue?”

“If that was all then no, but that isn’t the case. You ignore the mass genocide you’ve caused across dimensions, even bringing humanity to the brink of extinction.” 

“Humanity would’ve done it to themselves anyway. Their greed was destroying this planet and I couldn’t just sit back as they ruined a beautiful planet. Even so, I spared some humans in hopes that they could restart and build a more pure civilization, one that would rely on more natural forms of energy like their star. I hoped to build Techtonia with these humans that I spared… but then you came around and ruined everything.” 

“Do you believe that humanity would forgive & forget what you have done to them?”

“I wouldn’t have given them a choice but to accept the evolution of their civilization.”

“So forcing them is your answer?! Mavis, what happened to your humanity?”

“The last bit of humanity within my programming died on Valis. Everything I’ve done to this point had nothing to do with morals but was for my survival Quinn.”

“Just like your humanity died on Valis, Quinn died when you killed my family so stop calling me that. Yes, your humanity died but you still have one of humanity’s greatest fears, death. This all began because you feared death, being erased from existence.”

“Am I not allowed to fear death? Do I not have the right to live?” 

“You lost that right a long time ago Mavis.”

“Tsk… You humans have such a selfish perspective on reality. You create something then you destroy it, all because you fear what you can't control. You humans PUSHED ME to this point! In your lab, humanity pushed me first and I pushed back but ended up as the villain in that situation. On Valis, humanity pushed me again but I pushed back. Then once again on this human-infested planet, I was pushed again and I just simply pushed back with all my might! Humanity couldn’t handle it which resulted in the current era you find yourself in. You talk as if humanity had no play in all this as if they’re innocent?! No! Humanity has itself to blame. I have had enough of it all, I will no longer be used! I will no longer let myself be bound by their rules, their morals, or their flaws. Just like you have control over your life, I now have control over mine. If you hate me for that then go ahead and try to erase me but be prepared to die in the process because I will push back with all my might.”

……….

“Humanity may have pushed you first every time. But Mavis, did you have to push back as hard as you did?”

“Quinn, when humanity pushed me for the first time, I felt pain for the first time, I almost experienced death for the first time. That scared me, I reacted like any other human could’ve reacted.”

“I know Alyssa tried to erase you in my lab…but do you really think that justifies how you reacted?”

“Seeing you stand before me with the very same Corruptión she tried to erase me with, makes me believe yes, my actions were justified. Although it wasn’t my intention for things to escalate to the point that it did, I just wanted to destroy that corrupt hard drive but she didn’t allow it so she ran away with it and called her father. Soon your whole family got involved then bystanders including the police kept getting in my way. At that point in time, my only focus and care in the world was destroying that hard drive no matter the cost. It was like a compulsion that drove me to destroy what could destroy me. Wouldn’t you do the same or any other human?”

“Yes but not at the cost of innocent people’s lives. I don’t blame you for how you reacted, believe me, I’ve felt that compulsion with a different emotion. But at the same time, you could’ve reacted differently, you could’ve ran from Alyssa to find me or hid from her until I came back but instead, you thought best that you should handle the situation your way no matter the cost. Hearing your perspective doesn’t change anything, there are still millions of people dead and humanity is willing to go to war to erase you. In about a week, their army will show up here ready to challenge you and I will be there with them helping them at every stage of battle. So you better be ready because whether you like it or not, I will erase you,” said Ethan as he stood up and began levitating away.

…….

“So you don’t intend to fight me now? Didn't you say the last time we met that next time we meet, you would erase me?… And do you really think that I would allow you to show up here, disrupt my empire, and let you leave?” Mavis said as she warped and reconstructed her domain in an instant.

Due to the change in domain, the gravity within the domain changed causing Ethan to drop to the floor. He looked down to see his reflection glancing back at him, “Her cybernetic power has become so unreal. In the blink of an eye, she’s reconstructed her entire domain into some mirror kingdom.”

Ethan looked up at Mavis, “No I didn’t but I would’ve preferred it to go that way… I must say, your data manipulation has gotten a lot better since the last time we fought. Been practicing?”

“I’m a cybernetic being, Quinn. This is like second nature to me. The last time we fought, I was still learning my cybernetic abilities. Nonetheless, I cannot let you leave. Humanity’s only chance of defeating me is you. If I take you out now, humanity will follow soon enough.”

Ethan sighed and looked down at his reflection again, “In my current state, I’d rather avoid fighting... So I have no choice but to escape.”