Author's Note: Taking a break from my Midori Days and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle fics. Technically, it's not a break seeing as how I take so long to update, but still… This fic takes place in 2007; just take it that the events of Elfen Lied took place in 2006, okay? Also, I'm no firearms expert, so don't kill me if I mess up when describing weapons. Also, my german is next to non-existant. Excuse any mispellings. This has got to be the longest opening chapter for a fic I have ever written... EVER.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Elfen Lied.


#8

Chapter 1: A New Beginning - Ein Neuer Anfang

"It's working?" Kohta said aloud to nobody in particular.

He stood there for a while as the grandfather clock chimed away, and then turned back to the front gate. He unlocked it and slid it open halfway before gasping audibly. The person standing before the gate was…

"N… Nyu?" he asked.

"Kohta…" she said feebly.


The sirens blared overhead as the group of 5 men raced down the hallway. They could hear shouting and gunfire not too far ahead. They hoped to God that one of them had not escaped. The sound of gunfire ceased and they quickened their pace. If one had escaped, they had to make sure it didn't get outside. They reached the corridor where the alarm had been triggered and saw the bodies of the two teams which had responded to the alarm before they did. One of the guards was still on his feet… but was soon shot in the chest by the mysterious man wearing a black trench coat and a facemask who stood over him.

"You there, put down your weapon!" one of the guards shouted as he raised his Heckler and Koch MP-5.

His team mates followed his lead and raised their guns. The man in black turned towards them and moved closer. They stood their ground at first and kept asking him to put down his gun, but when he got within 10 metres, they took a few steps back and fired, the dust from all the bullets that hit the ground obscuring their view. They lowered their now empty guns and waited for the dust to settle.

"Is he dead?" one of them asked.

He got his answer when the dust had settled. The man in black was still standing; his clothes weren't even riddled with bullet holes. The guards panicked and tried to quickly reload their guns, but they all fell before their ejected magazines had hit the ground. He had knocked out two of them with the butt of his gun and shot two more, leaving just one alive. The one guard who was spared dropped his gun and tried to flee. He didn't get far…

"Where are they? Where do you keep them? Tell me and I may let you live…" the man in black asked in a calm tone almost as if killing people had no effect on him.


The diclonius yelled out in frustration as he tried to break free from the restraints binding his arms and legs, wriggling like a fish out of water. He yelled out once more, slamming his vectors on the walls of his containment unit. He knew he was the only male kept there, he knew he was locked away in the deepest cell with the thickest walls and the tightest security. He could not see, taste, and smell nor could he feel… and he was sick of it. He wanted to get out… and take revenge on the ones who placed him in this dark hell.


"Release them all."

The man in black had made his way to one of the scientists' offices and was threatening one at gunpoint… after knocking two of his colleagues out cold. He had barred the door from the inside and he could hear the security guards outside trying to break it down.

"Are you insane? They're mindless killing machines! If we let them go…"

"… I won't kill you. Listen to me professor; I do not want more blood spilt tonight than necessary. Do it."

"Very well then," he said as he reached for a key and a key card nearby, "Follow me."

"Do you take me for a fool? You don't use a key for their restraints anymore do you? Not since that little accident a few months back. All the restraints are electronically locked, just like their cells. Even the elevators require a key card."


The door finally gave way, but they were too late. The scientist had already given the intruder all the information he needed to release the specimens from their cells as well as the key card that unlocked every room in the facility and provided access to the elevators, and the intruder had already escaped via the ventilation system. The situation had changed and they made their way to the cell located at the very lowest level of the facility. They'd previously received word that an assault on the facility would occur, and #8 was to be kept in its chamber at all costs.

"All units located at Cell #08, be informed that the intruder is headed your way! I need 3 teams to get down there and provide backup! We'll get him there! The rest, go and secure the exits!"


The diclonius gave out another yell and fell to the ground. He was surprised at first and wondered what had happened. Did they come to change the locks? They did so some months back when a diclonius, the only other pure diclonius he knew was being held there, escaped. He killed the people who came in to change them. He enjoyed the sound of their flesh stretching and finally tearing apart, their bones breaking like twigs and their horrified, tortured screams. He flung his vectors around, but there was nobody there.

He wondered what was going on and then felt that the straight jacket was slack… as if it were no longer tied and the locks were removed. He flung his arm out, confirming that he had been freed from his restraints. He started to laugh as though he'd heard the funniest joke in his life and tore the straight jacket off his body. He reached up and removed the helmet that had blinded him for all this time and walked towards the cell door.


Michiko was worried. They were shooting metal balls at her as they always had, but suddenly stopped when the lights in the testing room went out. Only the red emergency lights remained and she was getting scared. The last time something like this happened, many people died. It had been two hours since the lights went out. Suddenly, something broke through the glass window of the observation room at the far end; the siren and sounds of gunshots outside suddenly louder. The lights were out in there and she could only see a faint outline of a person.

He walked into the light revealing a demonic grin filled with sharp teeth. It was the man in black and the red lights illuminating his facemask made him look like a monster. Michiko was afraid; she'd never seen this man… this thing… before, but she had a feeling that he was dangerous. Her heart started beating faster when he started walking towards her. She strained at the chains holding her. She wanted to get away from there, she didn't feel safe, but they were too strong. She gave up and stayed silent; looking back at him as he moved closer. The man in black then pulled out his gun.

Michiko's level of fear rose significantly. She'd seen men walk around with similar devices and knew that it meant death to whoever it was pointed at. She lashed out her vectors in an attempt to knock it out of the beast's hand. All three stopped short of where he stood, just outside her vectors' range of 5 metres. She withdrew them, shivering in fear as he took aim… and shot at the chains holding her back. He holstered the gun and knelt down next to her…

"I'm not here to hurt you."

Michiko blinked in confusion. She had expected him to end her life, right then and there, but he spared her. She wondered why he had done so. Was he planning to use her for something? If so, she wouldn't cooperate.

"I'm getting you off this island," he told her, "I need you to go to Lab 12, I'm sure you know the way. There are others there. You're all getting away from here. There's just one more person I have to find, then I'll be right there to help you all escape… and I'll destroy this place."

He turned around, clambered back into the observation room and exited. Michiko followed him out of the room and down the corridor, stopping for a moment, thinking about what to do. She suddenly thought about her father, Dr, Nakashima, one of the scientists at the facility and ran after the man in black, grabbing hold of his trench coat with one of her vectors.

"Wait!" she shouted, "My father… please, save my father! His name is Dr. Nakashima! Please! You have to save him before you…"

"Come with me, then." he told her, "The next person I'm freeing is under his supervision. His cell is on the lower most level… and your father's office is on that level as well."


"Shit! He's loose! Open fire!" one of the guards yelled out.

He was one of the many who rushed to #8's cell to prevent the intruder from releasing it, but they did not expect it to free itself. He was the first to notice it was already free… and he was the first to die. From 10 metres away, the diclonius jerked his Heckler and Koch MP-5 out of his hands, lifted him up 3 metres off the ground and bent him backwards with 4 of his vectors. The guard's four team mates looked on in horror, unable to fire. The other teams were still en route.

The guard wished it to be over quickly, hoping that the monster would break his spine and be done with, but was denied that wish. The diclonius kept him that way for a few minutes, his back almost snapping in two, and used its remaining 7 vectors to do away with the rest; ripping them apart slowly. He knew it was enjoying itself, ripping his team into pieces whilst keeping him near death in extreme pain.

"I remember you…" the diclonius spoke, "You were here that day... The day I was placed here…"

The guard thought the beast had gone insane and was talking to itself at first, but then realised that it was talking to him. He was the one in charge of placing it in its cell when it was first brought to the facility. He'd treated the specimen like a lower life form, verbally abusing it and sending electric charges through the metal harness containing it.

"I loathe you… You wanted to break me… Today, I break you… Now," the diclonius continued, bringing the guard's upper torso back in an upright position, stared at him and yelled, "BREAK!"

He bent the man back, breaking his spine and then ripping him apart where it snapped. The spray of blood brought a smile on the diclonius' face and induced terror into the guards who had just arrived. They fired upon it, hoping to at least slow it down. They failed miserably; several had the bullets from their guns shoved into their eyes, the others were ripped apart.

The last guard, the 24th as the diclonius had counted, was repeatedly thrown against the wall until he stopped breathing. The diclonius got on its knees; almost bathing in the blood that now covered the corridor, raised its arms, looked skyward as if in prayer and gave a triumphant yell. With the way ahead cleared, it got on its feet and proceeded…


"Where is my father?" Michiko asked.

"I don't know… He should be down here, but…" the man replied, but stopped suddenly.

They had made their way down to the level where Cell #08, and the specimen inside with the same number assigned to it, was located and entered the scientists' office on that level. It appeared to have been unused for an extended period of time, which made no sense. Every specimen in the facility had at least 3 scientists studying it and according to the records shown to him upstairs, #8 was still active.

The man in black had turned on a computer in here and got back into the facility's database, almost mimicking the scientist upstairs who had extracted the information from the database on all the specimens and given them to him. This time, he was looking for information on the scientists stationed on the level, but found nothing. They could hear gunshots close by, followed by screams of pain and then silence before the gunshots resumed. He started looking through all other sections in the database and turned up three results. It led him to Michiko's file…


Name: Nakashima Michiko
Specimen Number: 6
Vectors: 3
Vector Range: 5 meters
Age: 13
Physical age: 18
Sex: Female
Species: Silpelit Diclonius
Father: Dr. Nakashima Kenji (deceased)
Mother: N/A

Scientist in-charge/Foster parent: Dr. Minamoto Mikoto


… To the file of the last diclonius in the facility, the one they were headed for…


Name: N/A
Specimen Number: 8
Vectors: 11
Vector Range: 10 meters
Age: 21
Sex: Male
Species: Pure Diclonius
Father: N/A
Mother: N/A

Scientist in-charge/Foster parent: Dr. Nakashima Kenji (deceased)


… And to a message sent by one of the scientists from the office they were in right now…


Date: 2nd January 2001

The subject killed Dr. Nakashima during a parent/child contact session today. We tried to persuade him not to go in there, but he wanted to… and he died. Subject is not safe for study. Its vector range is too great for us to get close. Recommended course of action is to increase the level of security and pull out all personnel. We need to restrain him further before we're sure to be safe. I don't know why you want it kept alive Chief Kakuzawa… but you pay me, and I'm not one to complain.


"He's… dead…" he said softly, hoping Michiko wouldn't hear, but she did.

"What! Dead? But… how? It can't be! You're lying! Tell me that you're lying!" Michiko screamed, grabbing hold of the man. She glanced at the computer screen, tears swelling in her eyes…

"No Michiko, don't!" He pleaded, but his cries fell on deaf ears. She had bolted out the door, her eyes no longer in tears, but filled with an intense hatred.

He got up to run after her, but when he reached the door, she had disappeared. He cursed at himself for letting her know and followed the corridor to the left, hoping that she'd gone the same way. In her present state, she'd fight #8 if she met him and if she did, the possibility of her losing was incredibly high. He hastened his pace as someone above watched…


Chief Kakuzawa sat at his desk watching the intruder run along the corridor of the sub-level where #8 was located. The security cameras throughout the rest of the facility had ceased to function, possibly the handiwork of the man in black, but the cameras down on that level still worked. Kakuzawa wanted them to work even if power to the entire facility had been cut. #8 was to never leave and he wanted eyes on that level 24/7 to make sure of that.

"Hmmm… so… he used rubber bullets, wears a facemask designed to look like a smiling maw filled sharp teeth, knows about our activities here and now has access to everything," Chief Kakuzawa spoke, "Why are you not stopping him!"


The diclonius killed the final guard, the 33rd, and moved forward. It wanted to get out now, more than ever. It walked along the corridor into a wide hallway, inside was a diclonius girl, probably a silpelit, about 18 years of age, her long hair reaching down to her hips. It was Michiko…

"Huh? Are you lost little girl?" #8 asked her, moving closer.

"You… did something I can never forgive…" Michiko said.

"Oh did I now?" #8 replied.

"You… you killed my father!" Michiko screamed, flinging her vectors out at #8.

"And I… will kill you," he said calmly, throwing Michiko against the wall on the far side of the room.

He'd thrown her so hard that the wall caved in slightly… and it was made of steel. Michiko coughed up blood, got out of the indentation and ran at him, vectors lunging forward, only to get tossed back into the wall, making the indentation greater. She coughed up more blood and tried to get on her feet, but #8 was already in front of her. Grabbing her head, he brought it hard against the wall, denting it further. Michiko screamed in agony…

"You are still alive… That means…" #8 said, "You are one of my kind. I have never killed one of us. I have been here for as long as I can recall…"

"He was a scientist here…" Michiko said weakly, "He took care of you!"

"Did they take care of you, young one?" #8 asked, raising her to look him in the eye, "Did they? Nobody… nobody took care of me! That man came in willingly… he was one of them! I hate them! I HATE THEM! You must hate them too! Learn to hate them!"


The man in black walked cautiously down the corridor. He'd heard two people speaking loudly followed by what sounded like something large being tossed about. He recognised one of the voices and drew a gun from his coat; a custom Smith & Wesson M500 Hunter revolver, different from the one he'd used before; a SIG- Sauer P226 semi-automatic handgun modified to fire less than lethal rounds, in this case, rubber bullets. He heard Michiko's voice again.

She was close… they were close. He stopped moving when he couldn't hear their voices. He noticed the wall to the right of the corridor seemed to be dented, moved closer to inspect it and jumped back in shock as Michiko flew out of the wall. She landed against the wall opposite the one she'd just been thrown out of, unconscious. A diclonius stepped through the hole Michiko had burst through. He looked at the man in black, who was now certain that the diclonius before him was #8.


"Damn it!" said the man in black, taking aim, "I was hoping I wouldn't have had to d…"

He hadn't the chance to finish his sentence when he was thrown violently back against the wall of the adjacent corridor, dropping his revolver in the process. #8 held him against the wall with his vectors and came closer. He looked the man in black in the eyes and spoke…

"You… aren't one of them…" he said, "You let me out of there, didn't you? For that… I thank you… by letting you live another day…"

He tossed the man in black down the corridor, in Michiko's direction, and he landed against the wall on the far side of the corridor, some 25 metres away. When he had composed himself and got on his feet, #8 had gone. He rushed over to Michiko and checked her pulse. He registered a heartbeat; it was faint, but it was there. He retrieved his revolver, holstered it and picked up Michiko. There was only one way out of the level; the elevator, and he carried her there, passing by the chamber where #8 had been contained. The bodies of the guards lay scattered about like an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.

The elevator was still there, meaning #8 hadn't yet found it; the level's corridors were labyrinthine. The man in black carried Michiko all the way to Lab 12, where the other freed diclonii were waiting. Only 19 out of the 40 or so diclonii kept in the facility had gathered there. The others were dead, either by the man in black, through the ruthless experimentations carried out by the scientists, shot in the head by a high calibre rifle when they were of no more use or just missing. The man in black pulled out a walkie-talkie, one he'd picked up from an unconscious guard and retuned to a different frequency, and spoke into it.

"Kazuma, how's the exit?" he said.

"It's clear," Kazuma replied, "I took out all of the guards there."


Kazuma, a young man of about 19 years of age with medium length white hair, which he'd dyed in an attempt to look like his favourite videogame character, Dante from the Devil May Cry series, was crouching by the exit to the dock. He was wearing the same outfit as the man in black, sans the facemask and was wielding a Glock 19 with suppressor attached, his lethal weapon, as well as a SIG- Sauer P226 semi-automatic, which fired rubber bullets. He'd also recovered his walkie-talkie from an unconscious guard.

"How many did you free?" the man in black asked.

"Five," Kazuma responded, "What about you?"

"Nineteen silpelits," the man in black replied, "Those five… are they safe?"

"Yeah, they're in the boat…" Kazuma said.

"No. I meant… are they safe?" the man in black asked him, with a firmer tone.

Kazuma understood what the man in black meant and replied…

"Yes, they've been confirmed to be safe!"

"Good. All of mine are safe as well. We're heading down to the dock now. Prepare the boat!"

"What about #8?"

"He's still down there, walking around. He won't leave anytime soon."

"That's good to hear. Remember what the old man told us?"

"I remember…"


"He's the only other pure diclonius ever found. The other is Lucy. I have a very strong belief that there is no coincidence about this. I've hereby come to the conclusion that if Lucy is their queen, then he is their king…"

#8 stood there, silent. He'd wandered back to the entrance of his chamber and overheard the man in black over the walkie-talkie of one of the dead guards. It had somehow retuned itself to the frequency the man and his associate were using. #8 couldn't help but smile. He'd known that he was superior to the rats who were keeping him there, but he had never expected to be superior to his own kind. His kind… few were known to exist and they continue to dwindle in numbers… unless he finds her.

"Lucy…" he whispered, "Where are you?"

#8 looked up and noticed a ventilation shaft. He gave a smile for his way out had now been revealed to him…


Kazuma rushed down from the exit to their escape vehicle, a small black motorboat. As he started up the engines, the man in black, Michiko still cradled in his arms, and his 19 wards exited the facility. Everyone got on the boat when they heard an explosion. From the docks, they could not see what was going on very clearly; the explosion had occurred at the top of the cliff side on their right. The man in black looked through a pair of binoculars up the cliff; someone was walking near the cliff's edge, but turned back soon afterwards.

"It's #8!" the man in black exclaimed, "He must have crawled up a ventilation shaft or something. Kazuma, quickly! Let's get out of here!"

The boat started pulling away from the dock when Michiko, who had been unconscious before #8 was spotted, had gotten up and jumped back onto the dock and ran back into the facility. Kazuma slowed the boat down, but the man in black told him to continue as planned and jumped onto the dock. He turned back at his comrade and requested that Kazuma not come back for him before running after Michiko.


"Where are you, Lucy?" #8 whispered.

He was standing at the edge of the very cliff Lucy had fallen from when she escaped. The difference being that there were no guards still on their feet, no sniper to put him down and no Kurama to orchestrate any course of action to prevent the diclonius' escape. The exit he'd walked out of was engulfed in flames, and from those flames leapt Michiko, her vectors shielding her from the flames, obviously in no condition to fight.

"You still wish to fight me?" #8 asked, "You are a fool, young one. You have seen how powerful I am. Why do you wish for death?"

Michiko did not respond. She merely ran straight at him, bellowing at the top of her lungs. He easily dodged her and stayed well out of her vectors' 5 metre range. She rushed at him again and once more he dodged her. They turned to face each other as it started to rain.

"I have no intention of killing my own kin!" #8 spoke, "But you are forcing my hand! I thought the punishment I gave you downstairs would have been enough to make you change your mind; to forget about them and think of us! Our brothers and sisters! Apparently it isn't so. You still harbour feelings for those beasts… for that monster. For that, you die!"

Michiko rushed forwards again and was pinned down by the neck by one of #8's vectors. She struggled to break free, but soon lost to exhaustion and stopped moving. #8 brought down his remaining vectors on her, causing her to sink into the mud. He then raised her up in the air by her left arm and looked at her, much like a curious boy looks at an animal he'd never seen before. After some time, he decided he would rip off her right arm… and announced it openly.

"No, please!" Michiko spoke feebly, not an ounce of strength left in her.

"Pathetic…" #8 said, as he started to pull her right arm slowly, "I think maybe death is the only suitable punishment for someone as weak as you…"

#8 started to pull her arm harder and she screamed in pain. Then, she felt none, and landed on the soft soil beneath her. The scream of pain continued, but not from her. It was #8, now sporting a large gash on the side of his arm where a .500 S&W magnum round had grazed him. He turned back towards the facility, a burning rage in his eyes, and saw the man in black, his revolver at the ready.

"It's you!" #8 said, "I should have just killed you! You ungrateful rat!"

The man in black stood 15 metres away from him, well out of his vectors' 10 metre range. He took a step forward, but felt something around his leg; a vector! He looked back at Michiko and tossed her backwards, closer to the cliff's edge. His leg freed, he turned back to face the man in black, who had already fired a shot. #8 brought his vectors up in an attempt to stop the bullet, but it did not stop. He missed it with all of his vectors.

In that split second, he wondered why he could not stop it. Had rage caused him to lose his focus? Or was it some sort of sorcery from that black devil? With his death closing in on his head, he forced his body to turn to the left, and escaped death, though not unscathed; the bullet grazed his right eyeball, splitting it open and sending the viscous material within to pour out. An immense pain erupted within him. He was blind… and angry.


The man in black lowered his weapon. #8 had been blinded in one eye and was now flailing his vectors wildly, swaying to and fro like a drunk. Michiko had passed out, for how long, he did not know. Then, it happened. It was so sudden, that he didn't have the time to react logically. One of #8's vectors picked up Michiko and hurled her towards the cliff side on the west just as he fell off the northern cliff; the very same one Lucy had fallen off during her escape, and out of sight.

The man in black ran towards the west cliff and without hesitation, jumped off. He managed to get a hold of Michiko as they pummelled towards the sea. He knew she would survive, but he wasn't so sure his body would be able to withstand hitting water at that speed. As they closed in on the water, he realised that there were rocks jutting out of the sea. He prayed hard as they crashed into the water, and hit his head against a rock. As he drifted out of consciousness, he lost Michiko.


Kazuma shone a flashlight into the water. He had already dropped the diclonii on the mainland and turned around to look for his partner, even though he'd been told not to. The beam of light reflected off something and he moved the boat closer. It was a diclonius; the read hair and the two horns atop its head were all he needed to verify it, floating face down in the water. He'd pulled the diclonius halfway out of the water before he realised who the floater was. #8 opened his remaining eye and stared coldly at Kazuma, half his body still in the water.

"Oh shit!" Kazuma swore, pulling out his Glock 19 handgun, "It's you…"

Kazuma squeezed the trigger as his head went flying, landing in the water a distance off before sinking into the depths. The bullet caused no damage to #8, who crawled onto the boat. He covered his open eye socket with his hand and looked at the beheaded body of Kazuma. With his free hand, he started stripping the corpse and when the job was done, tossed the now naked form of Kazuma into the sea. He spent some time donning Kazuma's clothes, and then sat back down. Unable to pilot the vessel, he looked up at the moon as the current brought the boat along.

"Lucy…" he whispered, "I'm coming…"


End of Chapter - Ende Des Kapitels