Disclaimer : I don't own Claymore.
()()()()
Finally it was over. Two mere hours ago, the Organization had fallen, destroyed by the very warriors it had created for years. Five Claymores from the previous generation, joined by the ones they had convinced of their masters' betrayal, had stormed the place and crushed whatever defenses they had left after Miria's tragic attempt.
The leaders had been executed, and the few warriors who had been irremediably brainwashed into total obedience had been granted a quick, painless death.
Well, except for Raftela, whom Tabitha had been going at long after she was dead. Even then, the braided Claymore had not relented until the former Number Ten had been reduced to a bloody, unrecognizable pulp.
So now, all that was left to do was clean-up duty. Deneve had assigned warriors into groups of three to scout the formerly restricted areas, so as to make sure there were no more nasty surprises in store. She had asked Dietrich to accompany her and Helen to do their part.
So none of them could not suppress a feeling of dread when a panicked Tabitha ran up to them.
()()()()
Mayhem. Complete and utter mayhem greeted the trio when Tabitha led them to the source of whatever she had found.
Several Claymores were sprawled around the corridor, and the air was thick with the scent of blood. The coppery liquid itself was everywhere, on the floor and coating the front of every single fallen warrior, among whom they could recognize Yuma, Cynthia and Anastasia. A quick check confirmed they were all alive, and inexplicably unharmed despite the severe blood loss. Even their blood-stained clothes lacked any slash marks that would have come with a fight and revealed already-healed injuries.
"It was always the same. They would go into this room to investigate," Tabitha trembled as she looked at the door she was referring to, "and seconds later, they would get thrown out, with blood flying everywhere."
"And you didn't hear a fight?" Deneve asked.
"Not a sound, not a scream, and none of them released any Yoki." Tabitha replied. "Though there is some Yoki coming from inside."
"So whatever is there most likely took them out before they could react." Helen surmised, a serious look on her face, contrasting with her usual demeanor.
"But why isn't it coming out?" Dietrich wondered. Sensing the strange Yoki, she added, "This is strange, the Yoki is completely immobile, like its source is unable to move at all."
"In this case, staying here won't do us any good. We are four single-digit rank warriors here, so unless it's an Abyssal or that woman who attacked Clare, we should be able to handle it!" Helen shouted, angry at the state of her comrades.
Deneve nodded. "You're right, we don't have a choice. Helen, I need you to make a hole big enough for us to go all at once. I'll take point and draw its fire, you and Dietrich flank it. Tabitha, you stay back and warn us for any attacks."
Helen's drill sword blew a massive hole in the wall and kicked a large cloud of dust inside. The three Claymores jumped in, swords drawn, their silver eyes scanning for their enemy and their bodies tensed for any incoming attack.
Nothing came.
Slowly the dust settled down, allowing them to see the lone human figure in the middle of the room, dimly lit by a couple of torches on the walls.
Three pairs of eyes widened simultaneously.
"This… this is…" Deneve started.
"… A masterpiece." Helen finished before her tongue literally rolled out of her mouth down to her knees.
"… Superb…" Dietrich breathed even as her cheeks reddened from an unexpected surge of blood. This was all that the short warrior managed to say before the blood pressure reached critical levels, causing her to be catapulted outside by a massive nosebleed, joining her blissfully unconscious comrades.
Helen and Deneve were too busy staring to even notice.
Instead of the monster they had been expecting, the room only contained some unlucky guy who had apparently been hit by a pair of those parasitic rods, which were stuck into his left shoulder. The man was facing away from them and hanging by his arms, sweat dripping off his muscled back which had a bronze tint in the firelight. He must have collected and deposited here to be used as a test subject for Dae.
But this was not what had caught their attention.
No, just that it seems Dae had deemed that his test subjects do not need pants, or even underwear for that matter.
Therefore anyone entering the room would be treated to the single most flawless male ass any artist could ever imagine. Even the sculptures and paintings from Rabona could not compare. It was like Mother Nature herself had decided to show mankind that they could never equal her, and used flesh instead of marble to carve its ideal of perfection.
"Damn I'd tap that."
Helen was too shocked to react to stoic Deneve's words. She was just able to nod numbly. "So would I." she breathed reverently. This HAD to be a gift of the gods as an apology for being mooned by Isley's Awakened form.
Then in retrospect, it had been worth it.
"OH COME ON!" Tabitha shouted as she stormed past the dazed duo. "It's just a man already! Snap out of it!" She honestly didn't see why they were so worked up about this; now if it had been Captain Miria hanging there naked on the other hand…
Moving to the front of the man, she gave him a once over to determine whether this prisoner was any threat. Upon doing this however, she made a fatal mistake.
She looked down.
While there was no source of light in the back of the cell, Claymores have very good night vision.
"EEEEKKKKKKKKK!" A shrill squeak was heard as the braided Claymore jumped as far away as she could. She curled on the floor in a fetal position, rocking herself and muttering. "It's a beast… a beast… a beast…"
The shriek was nonetheless enough to break Deneve from her spell. Quickly deciding to act before her eyes wandered down again, she moved to face the young man, whose head was bowed, bringing a lit torch to cast away the shadows that obscured his face.
Luckily (or unluckily), the flickering flames kept everything below his waist obscured.
His eyes were closed, but she could tell they were moving behind his eyelids, like he was on the very edge of consciousness. Upon seeing the handsome, youthful features, the short-haired warrior couldn't shake a strange feeling of familiarity.
"I could swear I know this guy." she muttered to herself. "Helen!" she called.
Helen moved closer though it became obvious she hadn't heard : her eyes were still fixated on the hypnotic backside, a small amount of drool coming from her mouth and her hands slowly raising to grasp what she now considered the Holy Grail.
Deneve rolled her eyes and, once again moving behind the hanging man (and very reluctantly refusing to look again), she grabbed Helen's ear and dragged her away from the wonderful sight.
Then again, their minds already had enough material dutifully memorized to provide interesting dreams for the next few months.
"OOWWWWW!" Helen protested. "What was that for?" she glared/whined before shrinking under Deneve's scowl.
"Doesn't he look familiar to you?" she asked, moving the torch closer again.
"Trust me Deneve, I'd remember a guy with an ass like that."
Seeing that her friend was getting 'distracted' again, Deneve slapped her hand which was beginning to wander south again. Helen pouted and crossed her arms. "Besides, where would we know him from? I'm pretty sure we didn't meet him since we came from the North, and it's not like we saw any men during our stay there."
"Maybe you'd be able to remember better if you stopped looking at his ass."
Helen grumbled and moved her eyes to his front. 'Damn fine here either.'
"Above his chest too." 'Though it is a nice chest.' Deneve thought to herself.
Helen frowned in concentration, after all the sooner Deneve was satisfied, the sooner she could return to her ogling.
"Deneve, we've spent seven years in seclusion and this guy barely looks twenty! If it was before that, he would have been a freaking kid! I don't know about you, but I can't remember every brat I came across during or off missions!"
"We did hang together quite often, but the only joint mission we had was that Awakened Being hunt with Miria and Clare."
"…" The man's lips moved but he didn't wake up.
"What did he say?"
"Sounded a bit like 'Clare'." Helen grumbled. "The guy's given nosebleeds to nearly twenty warriors and he's obsessing about the only one who's not there. Go figure." She scratched her head in frustration. "Why her anyway? That boy toy of hers seven years ago I may understand, but why this hunk too?"
Deneve's eyes went wide as she connected the dots. "Helen… I think you just hit it right on the nail."
Helen blinked hard. "What do you mean? Wait a minute, you don't think… NO FUCKING WAY!"
"Helen…"
"NO! NO! NO! I refuse to believe this is him!"
"Why? Everything fits." Deneve tried to reason her friend.
"I'll tell you why! Clare's boy toy was a short, scrawny, clingy, annoying kid! There is no way in hell he grew up into… well… THAT!" Helen finished her tirade by waving at the new and improved Raki whom she looked up and down. "Besides," she continued with a more subdued tone, "if this is really him, I kinda pity him."
"Clare?" Deneve asked, referring to their friend's current situation.
"Remember what she said her goal was? Not to mention those three things inside him."
Deneve blinked in confusion. "Three? I can only see two." She followed Helen's line of sight, which was much lower than her own. Seeing an outline and Helen's serious expression, she brought the torch closer. Both pairs of eyes widened.
"Helen…" she gulped nervously. "This is NOT a parasite."
Tabitha whimpered in the corner. "Can't sleep the beast will get me… Can't sleep the beast will get me…"
Helen was unable to answer as both her and Deneve's expectations on the upper limit of the male anatomy abruptly went up.
Way, WAY up.
Wait, why was the room spinning all of a sudden?
'Clare… you fucking moron…' was her last coherent thought.
*THUMP!"
Deneve fared little better, instead noting they'd need Galatea otherwise they'd never manage to release Raki : at least the blind Claymore wouldn't be affected by the wonderful sight.
Too bad she'd never know what she'd miss.
*THUMP!*
Twin geysers of blood erupted as the last two rebels fell to the final trump card the Organization never realized it had.
()()()()
"Are you all right, Sister Latea?" Father Vincent asked the disguised Claymore who had just tripped on her own feet.
"I am, thank you." She smiled at the old priest. "But I just had this weird idea that heading to the Organization would give me some very good motivation to regenerate my eyes."
()()()()
Extra scene 1 : Alternate ending.
THUMP!
Deneve ignored the sound of Helen's body as she hit the ground. Instead the short-haired warrior, slowly walked out of the cell, her face set in its usual blank look. She also ignored her passed out comrades and headed for the nearest empty room she could find. As soon as she had locked the door, the stoic Claymore took a deep breath.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Deneve threw her head back and howled like an animal, immediately followed by loud wolf whistles. She then proceeded to pound her fists on the floor, jump up the walls and ceiling, and bang her head against the wall to near unconsciousness. All the while she was foaming the mouth, a wild look in her eyes.
As quickly as it had begun, she reverted to her normal impassive self, the devastated room the only proof that anything had happened. Then in a flat, deadpan voice she spoke.
"You know what? I am happy."
()()()()
Extra scene 2 :
Inside a pile of fossilized poop with a wing sticking out, the two souls locked in mortal combat suddenly paused.
"Raki-sense… Tingling…" Clare growled.
"Someone is picking on my Raki." Priscilla hissed.
"Wait a minute! YOUR Raki? He's MINE!" Clare roared.
"Right… didn't you say you just wanted to say goodbye to him? Sounds like you relinquished your claim." the infamous Awakened taunted.
"As if shoving your hand through his back was better!"
Priscilla shrugged. "Suppressing the parasite will turn him into a hybrid without altering his mind or his personality. After all, I want my future mate to be compatible with me."
"M… Mate?"
"He's sweet, good-looking and really well hung." Seeing a lecherous grin on her Awakened form was quite disturbing. "Not that you'd know."
"As if he'd be with a mass murderer!"
"Better than being a cold fish."
"Horned freak!"
"Horse legs!"
Needless to say they'd be there for a while.
()()()()
Author note : wow, I can't believe this is my 10th fic on this site, time sure flies. My debuts were merely small omakes in my reviews, until I crossed the bridge and tried actually writing; now I've pretty much become a regular and I hope I'll be able to write more for this IMHO overlooked section. So I'd like to say thank you to all my readers, and a bigger one to the people who take the time to review – while I enjoy criticism, just knowing that you had a good time is great motivation. Also, special thanks to Shiek927 who's been supporting and proof-reading me from the start.