Apollo had his hand on the door to the dormitory when the alarms sounded. Suddenly the silent night was swarming with bodies, all the element users stumbling from sleep to action. He met Reika again, the only two fully dressed. Pierre caught up to them in his black tank and shorts. They met Silvia in the control room, in her nightshirt but pulling her hair up into two loops. Somehow Sirius still looked as composed as ever.
"Who's piloting?" Pierre asked.
Gen Fudo looked upon them. Tsugumi was calling out warnings at the console. "Energy readings are through the roof—just beyond the barrier—must be—A SHADOW ANGEL!"
"I'm going!" Apollo headed for the vector shoot.
"NO!" Fudo stopped him. "Reika, Sirius, Pierre! GO!"
"Yes sir!"
"WHAT?" Apollo screamed but a kick sent him to the ground.
"Commander!" Silvia dropped to Apollo's side while he coughed harshly. He sat up, fury in his eyes.
"You don't trust me after all. You bastard, you know I can help them. This isn't about trust anymore this is about survival."
"You're right Apollo, and it's your survival that concerns me."
"What?"
"That Shadow Angel, has undoubtedly come for you."
"Then let me at him!"
"No. To let you leave now, would be as good as sending you to your death—or worse, and I will not do that."
"It's my decision to make."
"No." Silvia stood. "The Commander is right. Toma nearly strangled you last time, there was nothing you or any of us could do."
"And what do you think he's going to do to them?" Apollo countered, rising.
"He's not obsessed with them, maybe he'll let them go."
"Maybe, Silvia? You're brother's out there! Are you really willing to take that risk?"
"I...I believe in them, and so should you." She turned her back on him. He growled and looked back to their commander.
"I don't appreciate being lied to, old man." He stormed from the command but stopped short in the hall beyond when he met Rena on her way in. She was shaking. "Rena, what is it?"
"It's so close—so close to the barrier. I can feel him, his rage, his anger, and—"
They both heard the cries from inside command. Apollo ran back in to find the images on the screen blurred by white light, screams, then—
"Reika!" Her form slumped back into the chair.
"I'll take her place." Silvia ran forward.
"No, wait!" Apollo wasn't quick enough. Silvia dissolved before him and reappeared on screen. "SILVIA!"
"I can do this." He wasn't sure if she'd heard him over the com, or if she was just telling herself but he watched her face set as she gave the cry.
"Merge form Luna!"
"She's taking control..." Sophia murmured.
"She can handle it," Apollo spat. "They all can."
No they can't. The hollow voice was just next to him. He spun but saw nothing. It's you I want. Come to me, Apollonius or watch them all die, one by one.
"Brother!" Her scream made him turn back to the monitors. A moment later, Sirius slumped into his chair.
"I'm going!" Apollo ran for the railing.
"NO!"
"You don't understand!" Apollo shouted at the man who tried to restrain him. "He'll kill them just to get to me. You have to let me go! You have to let me stop him!"
"And what if you can't?"
"At least my friends might survive." He shoved away. Jun was already running to take Sirius's place but he stopped when Apollo landed before him. "I have to do this."
He jumped in the pod. Next thing he was in Vector Sol, hands clenched tight over the controls.
"Apollo!" Silvia cried. "But the Commander said—"
"Enough. Both of you, go back!" he ordered her and Pierre.
"What? We have to merge."
"No. It's too dangerous. I can't risk...I can't risk losing anyone again." With that he shoved the thrusters forward and left them behind.
"Pierre, we can't let him go it alone."
"I know." They pushed their vectors to catch up with him.
"I said stay away!" Apollo cried over the com.
"No!" Silvia affirmed. "We're not abandoning you."
"We were with you that day..." Pierre continued. "It was the three of us who broke that barrier, who faced Toma first, we should be with you again."
"But I—"
"You're not the only one who would risk their life for a friend. Merge one!" "Pierre..."
"Merge two!"
"Silvia.."
"Apollo let us help you."
He set his jaw but nodded. "Alright. Merge three. Go Aquarion!"
The pleasure and pain of the merge made them all shudder even as that overwhelming light faded. Silvia and Pierre could feel the pounding of Apollo's heart, his rage and his fear.
"Calm down." The older male warned. "We've got your back, Apollo."
"I know." But he couldn't relax as they came even with the cherubim. He knew what lay with in it.
"Come on, we can do this," Silvia encouraged.
"Right." He drew back his fist, their power joining with his to give maximum strength. They struck.
The fist was caught.
You are nothing but a human when you do not call on your true soul.
The face seemed right before him, Apollo strained to retract his hand as he stared in the pale visage of the angel.
"I am Apollo! That's all that matters."
He gave a yank and broke free, but only because the other let go.
You are wrong.
The strike came far too fast for him to see, to counter. They fell flat—just like last time, back smashed into solid rock.
"Get up!" Pierre warned.
"I know." But the next attack came before they could rise—it came straight at the part of Aquarion that was Vector Sol.
"Apollo!" Pierre and Silvia screamed as one as strike after strike bore down on that one spot.
"Argh!" The boy was caught in the onslaught, both power and physical strikes immobilizing him.
"Silvia." Pierre screamed over the monitor. "It's up to us!"
"Right!"
A foot came up and swept at the cherubim at the same time that Silvia brought down an arm. Both were stopped. Apollo blinked his eyes open just in time to see Toma smile.
Then he ripped the limps away.
"NO!"
Silvia and Pierre cried out, they were still in the main body of the mecha with him but when the next strike came they shattered—Aquarion fell apart. Vectors damaged, Pierre and Silvia crashed to earth.
"Pierre! Silvia!" Your concern is not with them! He lost sight of Luna and Mars when the face was right before him. Face me, wingless child!
And with that Toma threw Vector Sol to the ground.
"Apollo!" Tsugumi cried from her console, shifting the information from the three vectors back and forth over her screen to read all their vitals. Pierre and Silvia were motionless on their screens, their life signs read unconscious. But for Apollo—"He has no life signs!"
"It can't be," Chloe breathed.
"It isn't," Gen Fudo spoke above them. "There are no life signs detected, because he is no longer in his vector."
"There he is!" Jun had been shifting through the images projected from the exterior of the vectors. Between them, he managed to bring up an image of a form on the ground.
"He's not moving."
"Yes he is, look." Jun zoomed further. They could see him clearly now, as if they were just a few feet from him. Blood trickled from his nose, his hair line, and sweat poured from him as he dragged himself along in the churned dirt. One hand was reaching back, trying to hold a wound.
"His leg is broken." Tsugumi concluded when looking at another camera and, from this angle, seeing clearly the way the limb stuck out in a painful direction. "Oh no! The Shadow Angel."
"That's it." Jun stood. "We have to do something."
"But the vectors are down!" Tsugumi argued.
"We don't need vectors. Our friends are just beyond the barrier. We have to go help them! We can't just sit here and do nothing."
She clenched her fists. "You're right. I'm coming with you."
Chloe and Kurt rose as well. When they reached the doors, they parted.
"Reika!" She was drained of all colour and a bad bruise marked her face but her features were set. "I'm going with you."
Their resolve was unbreakable—the last hope of DEAVA ran to save their friends.
One more chapter, thanks for your reviews!
Riza