Amy looked up weakly as Mike stood over her, an angry glimmer in his dull, blackened eyes. His hands clasped her, Tadahmon's sword, so tightly that his knuckles became a white color. "Mike," she whispered desperately. "Don't. . . You know Erin needs you. . . and. . . the . . ."

"Don't tell me who needs me! No one needs me! And no one needs you!"

"Mike, you know. . ." she coughed, "You know you don't mean that. It's just, just the darkness from Kasaimon making you feel that way! Please stop!" she yelled, suddenly a burst of adrenaline snaking through her pain-riddled form and making her roll away, as the golden sword embedded itself right where she was last spread out.

"Why do you fight to survive? What do you have to survive for? Eventually Kasaimon will find a strong-hold, if not me, someone else, and come back and kill you." He tugged the sword furiously out of the ground, sneering disdainfully at the mud that caked itself to it.

"I . . . fight for my best friend, YOUR wife, Mike! Did you forget her already?" Amy demanded, pushing her thick brown hair out of her face and standing up, rocking back and forth on her feet, her bleeding wounds adding to her weakness.

"Erin. . ." he murmured, his eyes growing lighter suddenly.

"Yes! Erin! Your pregnant wife. You can't leave her alone. . .You know if you hurt me. . . other people will come and kill you. . . and then she won't have no one to take care of her."

"Yes she will. Your family."

"But she wants YOU," she groaned, her strength faltering as she labored for breath, feeling where he had kicked her in the ribs and chest very strongly.

"If she had me, she'd end up dead anyway. . ." Thinking of his wife had woken him up to the point where he could think for himself and didn't feel quite as murderous as before. No, now a sudden, deep feeling of depression hit him and he fell to his knees, the sword slipping out of his fingers and running across the dirt.

Amy had fallen to her knees, mostly out of exhaustion than anything, and reached out shakily to grab the sword.

"No!" Mike yelled and suddenly backhanded her, sending her skidding face down in the dirt.

She moaned, a bruise immediately forming on her left cheek. "Mike. . . Don't. . ."

"I need to stop this. And you need to watch. SEE that this is how things must happen. I won't let Erin get hurt. I won't let the baby. . ." he drifted off, thinking about the baby he'd never get to meet and gulped before resuming, "I won't let YOU get hurt any further. . . This all ends here. Please. . . forgive me, Amy. . . and tell Erin I love her. . . and always will. . ."

"MIKE! NO!" Amy screamed, sitting up and holding a hand out weakly, knowing already it was in vain.

"Value your life, hon. Never forget to show Davis what you feel for him. He may be a perverted idiot but he still loves ya. . . Trust me. See ya around. . ."

"MIKE!" she screamed, her voice seeming to echo horribly in her own ears as suddenly everything went in slow motion and he thrust the sword viciously into his own chest, his eyes immediately glazing over as blood poured from his left side, already staining his dirt covered white tank top.

He groaned weakly one last time then fell face forward into the dirt, embedding the sword even further in his body and causing a pool of blood to already start forming underneath him.

"Mike. . . I can. . . still heal you. . ." Panting, she grabbed Tadahmon's other weapon, a golden rod that looked like a miniature walking stick, and held it out as she crawled, trembling and half sobbing to her friend. "Wait, please, hold on," she whimpered, throwing herself on top of him and laying the rod on top of his back. The weapon began glowing and his whole body was absorbed in it, but suddenly a dark gleam absorbed it and shot it back into the rod, knocking it clear out of Amy's hands and into a sandy area not too far away. "No!" she groaned, falling on top of her friend again. "Why didn't it work?" she sobbed, tears streaming out of her glassy eyes.

Suddenly a purple gleam of energy appeared next to her. "Amy. . . you must understand. . . he WANTED to die. . . My weapons can't heal people when they sacrifice themselves for people they love. . . not like that. . . and he did that."

"Tadahmon. . ." she whined, clutching herself to Mike and not noticing as his blood began soaking into her already stained clothes.

The soothing energy wrapped itself around her and Tadahmon's voice murmured softly, "Shh. It'll be ok . . ."