“AAAAA” was the sound that came out of Magnus’ mouth as he brushed his teeth, then spat out the toothpaste foam into the bathroom sink and started to rinse his mouth.

“It is a bright new day, isn’t it, Codex?” Magnus asked as he used a towel to wipe at his face.

Codex remained silent, not even saying a beep to Magnus.

“Oh, come on, Codex, stop acting like a melodramatic,” Magnus said as he made his way to the kitchen. “You know, and I know that I only stayed up for 10 minutes.”

Still, Codex persisted in remaining completely silent. Seeing that, Magnus knew what he had to do.

“Fine,” Magnus said as he sighed while he took out a milk jug from the refrigerator and a box of cereal from a cupboard. “I am sorry, Codex.”

Codex sniffed at Magnus's poor display of repentance. All she had to say to him was, “You should listen to your messages. You got a lot in your voicebox.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes at Codex display of coldness, then shrugged his shoulders to himself and thought, she will come around… eventually.

“Alright, could you please play them while I eat my breakfast?” Magnus asked Codex.

“Sure,” was Codex's only response, then working her magic the messages started to play.

“Magnus, would you just come down to the workshop, I have some news.” The first message said, and it was Grandpa Richard who spoke, his voice sounded so strained and sad.

Ahh? was the only thought that raced through Magnus's mind, he had no idea what was happening, but before he could contemplate it anymore, Codex spoke up.

“Magnus, do you think his disease got worse?” She asked, and all the iciness in her voice was gone, only concern was left. Magnus thought on that, and no longer was he in a cheerful mood and eating his cereal, but once again, he was interrupted from contemplating it any longer.

“Magnus, I have some bad news, could you just meet me?” The second voice message said it was from Aunt Avril, and she sounded utterly devastated.

Suddenly dread slowly seeped into Magnus. This must be really bad if Aunt Avril has her emotions up.

“Magnus,” the third voice message said as it started to break down with tears, and it was the voice of Mrs. Robinsan. “Oh… Magnus.”

NO, it can’t be… Magnus thought as shock and realization poured in.

“I am sorry for what happened, little Magnus,” Bret said.

No, no, no, please let it not be her. Magnus pleaded as they messages continued on.

“I know who it feels…” Anthony said.

Please, to whoever is out there. Please let it not be HER.

“Hello, this message is for Magnus Erickson Tempest. We are sorry to inform you that your mother, Mrs. Kimiko, had passed away last night. She was-...”

As the message continued to play on, the spoon that Magnus was holding in his hand, dropped to the floor and clattered on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mr. Magnus,” a voice said far off into the distance, “MR. MAGNUS,” it repeated itself once more, but this time much louder.

Magnus came to at that and turned around to face where the voice came from.

“I was asking you, Mr. Magnus, how would you like to have your mother buried?’

Magnus merely looked at the man, with a blank stare, as he asked his questions.

“Mr. Magnus, I was asking-...”

“Cremated,” Magnus simply said as he interrupted the man.

“Oh?” the man said, as he straightened his tie, “cremated it is.”

Magnus turned away from his and started off to the distance as no particular thought really interested him.

“Well, that would be all from me, Mr. Magnus, and once again, I am truly sorry for your loss.” the man said as he plastered an apologetic smile on his face. “You also have somebody waited for you, out in the back, I shall tell him you are ready to see him.”

“Thank you,” Magnus responded as he continued to do as he was doing, right before, staring off into the distance.

The cemetery worker nodded his head, got open, and headed out the room. In only a few minutes, another man came in. He had on a slightly expensive suit that was black and carried with him a suitcase.

“Hello, Mr. Magnus,” the man said as he bowed his head to Magnus, “I am the personal representative of your mother, so I will be the one dispersing your mother’s assets.”

Then he sat himself opposite to Magnus and started to take out paperwork from his suitcase.

The man began to lay things out, but by then, Magnus had already zoned him out and got back to staring off into the distance.

But something pulled him back into reality after a while, “Your mother also left this,” the personal representative said as he placed a necklace into Magnus' hands.

“It says here. It is a family heirloom.” The man read off a piece of paper.

Magnus stared down at the pendant. The cord was of pure silver in color. It had a round cage attached to it, that had written on it of some intricate designs. Inside the round, teardrop cage was a crystal clear bead, and when Magnus turned it around in his hands, his hands started to tremble and shake. Immediately he closed his hands into a fist around the necklace.

He turned to face the personal representative and said to him in a gruff voice, “Thanks.”

The man nodded his head, “Well, that would be all, so I would need you to sign here, here and here.”

Magnus did as he was told so, and the man got about on his way.

After the man was long gone, Magnus once more turned his attention to the pendant, silently he looked down at it, for a while, then he put it around his neck and got back to staring off into the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Over a hill that overlooked everything-- down to the small figurine like people passing by, or to the giant skyscrapers reaching up to the sky. The hilltop encompassed every article of the city down below.

“It is the perfect place,” Magnus said.

“Yeah,” Codex responded, “Your mother had excellent taste.”

At that commentary from Codex, Magnus, ever so slight, smiled.

“Mom always did say she wanted her ashes scattered over this hill. It was here that dad uses to take her on their usual dates.”

Codex remained silent, letting Magnus reminisce about those happy moments.

Grandpa Richard walked up to Magnus, from the assorted mass down below, and carefully tapped Magnus on the shoulder. “You take as long as you need, son, we will just be waiting, patiently,” he said as he mistook the moment that Magnus and Codex had spoke to each other as a grieving moment for Magnus.

Magnus let the misunderstanding of Grandpa Richard slid. He did not have much energy to argue against it, he never really had enough energy for much, lately.

Nodded his head and taking Magnus silence as an answer, Grandpa Richard made his way back down to where everyone, who came to the funeral was.

Concluding that it was time, and seeing that there was no point in delaying the inevitable, Magnus opened the lid of the cremation urn and stared down at the ashes inside, the ashes of his mother.

“Magnus,” Codex simply said, and that simple utterance of his name turned him away from all those murky thoughts swirling around in his head.

“Oh, yes... sorry,” Magnus said, as he shook his head from side to side, like a dog trying to get all the water out of its fur. “Where was I, again?”

“You were about to scatter the ashes of your mother,” Codex answered, obligingly.

“And I must say it is a good chance we have here, the wind is blowing against us right now, not toward us. So, Magnus used this moment of opportunity, well.” Codex also added, but her true goal was for Magnus to get this process over with, the longer he delays, the greater the chance there is for him to break down.

Magnus nodded his head in answer to Codex's reply and also in a gesture showing that he was pumping himself up for the task ahead.

Taking the miniature shovel he held in his hands and putting it into the urn, Magnus took out a good 9th of the ashes held in the urn with that one scoop. Magnus outstretched his hands out, and let the winds take the ashes into the air.

With each scoop, that Magnus took out of the urn and let the wind sweep it away, memories started to pour into his mind. All the good and bad, the ups and downs, the highs and lows, flashed right before Magnus very own eyes, and all of them held his mother in it. Then suddenly, it all came to a screaming halt as the shovel hit the empty bottom of the urn.

Magnus looked down at the cremation urn, all it held was a few remaining ashes that the shovel could not get to. But what really caught Magnus's attention was the wetness against his cheeks. He touched and immediately knew what it was, tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The hour was getting late, and on a lonely hill overlooking the city remained a young man, who stared off into the distance, with no particular thought occupying his mind.

“Magnus,” Codex said, as she broke the silence that occupied the place.

“Yeah?” Magnus replied as he started to come to, back in the here and now.

“Everybody is gone now,” Codex said, stating the obvious.

“I know,” Magnus once again replied.

“You can let go now,” Codex said, very kindly and tenderly.

Magnus took in a sharp, deep breath, once he heard what Codex said, and he knew what she meant.

Sighing out loud, Magnus asked, “Codex, did you remember how mom was when dad passed away?” And it was more of a rhetorical question than anything else.

“She never shed a tear, not a single drop.” then he paused for a moment, thinking about what he said, “I got to be like her, it is what she would have wanted.”

“Magnus,” said Codex, clearly trying to dissuade Magnus from setting on that course, but before she could carry on with her goal, Magnus spoke up.

“Codex,” he said, “please don’t.” He looked up at her, in a metaphorical sense, with the saddest of smiles, and that broke her machine heart.

“Well,” Magnus said as he tried to put merry tone in his voice, “like you say Codex, I got to be in bed before 10 p.m, and we are long passed that, so let’s be on our way.”

“Sure, Magnus,” Codex simply said in a wretched tone since she had nothing in her program to counter this situation, she had found herself in.

At that affirmative from Codex, Magnus got up the rock he was sitting on, and with a quick wipe at his pants, to remove all the dust and dirt, he was on his way.

As Magnus made his way down the hill, he did not see the black shard as large as his hand in his path. Thanks to that, Magnus tripped over it, making him fall to the ground with a flop. Magnus quickly got up from the ground, wiped away at the dirt and dust staining him, and turned to look down at the perpetrator of his embarrassment, indignant.

Magnus leaned over and picked up the shard before he could study it any further, he heard dastardly laughter coming from behind the treeline, right below the hill.

Magnus whipped his head around to face the direction that the laughter came from, lo and behold, it was Michael Sawyer, who was confined into a hovering wheelchair, alongside his two goons, Lobal and Jovel.

Magnus pocketed the shard for later observation and turned his full attention to Michael and his two followers.

“Haha, did you see that,” Micheal said in a nasal voice to his two goons as he clapped and let loose a joyous laugh at Magnus earlier predicament.

Magnus snorted disgustedly at Michael and asked, out loud, from where he stood, in the halfway point of the hill as anger laced through his voice. “What the hell are you doing here, Michael?”

Michael immediately ceased with his gleeful laughter once Magnus had spoken up, and his expression rapidly transformed into an ugly one.

“What am I doing here, you ask?” Michael screamed, “Do you know what you have done to me, Magnus, huh?” Not pausing for a single moment, to let Magnus answer his question, Michael proceeded on, “Thanks to you, I am the talk of the town once more, and everyone looks at me scornfully.”

“Wow, is he seriously of setting his problems upon you?” Codex asked out loud, simply shocked at what she was seeing.

“I don’t give a shit about the prick’s sob story,” Magnus growled to Codex, as stared down at the idiot, icily. “What I care about is the nerve that he has to come on a day like this. Ooo, the lesson I will teach him today, it would make what Aunt Avril did look plain and simple.”

“Woah,” Codex said, trying to act like the voice of reason, “Don’t let your anger cloud your judgment, Magnus. Michael might be a blundering fool, but he is not blind. He knows that he could never take you on in a fair fight, especially with the state he is in. And after what those two did, Lobal and Jovel, which was basically nothing, in the bar, he would never trust his safety with them. So he must have something up his sleeve.”

Magnus looked at Michael, the man had a cast on his nose, and another two on both of his legs. Forget about fighting and him teaching me a lesson, he could not even walk without his hover wheelchair.

Ahhh, Codex is right once again, Magnus thought as he took in a deep breath to calm himself down. I could really be like my namesake, sometime, a great storm! And that has gotten me into more trouble than I could even count, if I was smart, I would have walked away from Michael at the bar, and we would not have been in this unreputable situation.

"Oh, come on," Codex said as she read the thoughts that played in Magnus mind. "If you did that, then you would have not been you."

Magnus paused, and as did his thoughts, as he listened to what Codex had to say, "You could be a dunderhead sometimes, but at the core of it all, you are a good person, Magnus. A person who fights for what is right and good, whether it be for yourself or others."

"Now," Codex said, very sharply, like a general would, "Do what you always do and this time, play it smart, you got a bright brain in there, so use it."

Whatever anger or sadness that Magnus was feeling a few moments ago, it was all sweep away with that rousing speech Codex gave. He stood up straighter, taller, more comfortable, and he had that sharp and brilliant smile, that he usually has, back on his face. Magnus was back to his typical self, that sarcastic, pessimistic, and good-natured young man.

"You know Codex," Magnus said, "For a machine, you are quite good at this human emotion stuff."

"Ahh," Code said with a groan, "could you please go back to your quiet, angry, moping brat that you were a few seconds ago."

"Ha!" Magnus said out loud, at Codex remark.

"So you find it funny when I promise that I will break all your bones, huh Magnus?" Michael asked, taking that shout of laughter by Magnus as an insult.

"Well," Michael said as he put on a headset that Magnus knew all too well. "Let's see you laughing, Magnus, when I do exactly that with my Mech suit."

Michael slumped over in his hovering wheelchair as the headset he put on started to boot up.

"Fuck!" was the only thing that escaped Magnus' mouth, as he reached into his jacket and took out the laser blaster, which he got from Michael.

Magnus took aim at Michael's unconscious form, and even though he knew that there would be hell to pay if he killed the son of Red Hurricane, he had to stop Michael from bringing forth that Mech suit he just connected to. Because if he doesn't, there will be no hope for him to win this fight, and that means he will not be able to get away without suffering Michael's cruel torture, or for that matter, simply die at his hands, since the bastard looks mad enough to do that.

Without pausing at all, Magnus fired his shot, it sailed through the air and travel down the long-distance of the hill. As quick as its namesake, it hit Lobal, or was it Jovel, whichever one it was, it hit him right in the thigh. There and then, he fell to the ground, screaming and wailing as steam drifted from his thigh, and the scent of his burnt flesh encompassed the whole area, of the vast hill.

Magnus immediately felt nauseated and wanted to reel over, retch all that he had in his stomach. Magnus might be tough and harsh when the situation calls for it, but that does not mean he is a cold-blooded killer. He is a young, law-abiding, man, but still, today calls for him to be more than that, if he ever wants to survive the day.

Once more, taking aim at Michael, who was being pulled away by his only standing goon, Magnus fired. His shot struck true, even with the 50-meter distance between them, and that can be all traced back to all the hours he spent as a kid with his father, practicing to handling all sorts of weapons.

Except it was not Michael who got hit, it was the last standing goon of his who got hit in the buttock. The last minion instantly went down, as the pain was too great for him to continue standing.

All that was left was Michael, but as if the Known Cosmos was mocking Magnus' efforts, something came out of the treelines and into the open. Michael's mech suit was here at last.