Vecto, Crysilis, and Streamline soon arrived at their base 210 miles away. They stood yards from the building as flames towered in the sky-as high as the tall trees in the distance-the metal walls melting in the intense heat. Coming from the building was Azul, holding his arm as he staggered to them. His white and gold garment was burned in places. He had his head low, his white hair half spiked and half hanging to his shoulders, with strands flowing in the wind across his blue-tinted face. He wore a gold tiara and silver bracelets.

"Azul? What happened?" Vecto hastily asked.

"Are you all right?" Crysilis asked.

"I'm fine . . . but master . . . Morphaal and Sable . . ." Azul swallowed, then went on. "There was nothing I could do. They came in search of you and destroyed the base!"

"Morphaal!" Vecto said, clenching his fist as he walked toward the base.

"Wait, Vecto!" Crysilis yelled at him. "Going in there won't do any good! They're long gone now!"

Vecto ignored him as he paced to the building and stared up at the soaring flames. He stopped at the entrance and shot his fist at the door, causing it to buckle and break away. The door flew apart as Vecto walked inside amidst the flames, scanning the rooms for anything misplaced. His shields sucked in carbon dioxide from the fire as he casually passed through melting chairs, tables, computer consoles, and entertainment centers. He noticed that the ceiling of Gyro's old room had been blown up by a projectile, and the flames seemed to have originated there.

"Gyro," Vecto said to himself as he looked around the black room. The room had been all he had left of his friend. Now it was destroyed. He noticed a cross on the floor. It was still intact, being made of titanium. He extended his hand to snatch it and brought it toward him. It was decorated with diamonds, about a foot long, with its edges fanned out. Gyro had said that it was given to him by a friend-it had served as a memento of sorts of his old life.

"Why'd you have to die?" Vecto said, livid, starring at the cross.

If only he could have done a better job of protecting him, Vecto thought. If only his shields had withstood Morphaal's chi energy attacks.

Leroy was right. His Force Field Shields contained life, or chi, which is why they fed on carbon, the key component of living things. He was angry when he fought Leroy, and his shields were negative, allowing Leroy's positive chi to slip through them. Leroy demonstrated that opposite chi could neutralize his shields. This explained how Morphaal's negative chi blast had eliminated his "positive" shields and destroyed his robotic body when he shielded Gyro years ago. But what if the chi within his shields was the same as his opponent's--both negative? There would be no stopping him.

At that moment, Vecto knew what he had to do to defeat Morphaal.