I hope my author's rants aren't scaring away all the reviewers - if so, just skip the block of bold text until you reach the story...
Well, the Second Season Elfen Lied was undergoing its mid season break to focus on other projects, but now we've resumed broadcasting for the second half of the 'anime'. I must give extra special credit to The Layman for contributing a scene to this chapter (I think you should all be able to tell which one it is - but if you need a hint it involves a certain science lady). I hope you readers will appreciate the extra scene as much as I did!
Now for this week's playlist, I felt there was only two songs required for this episode, but I think the first one should get you pretty close to the end, enjoy!
Track 7 - Playlist
Berserk OST - Murder
And the second song - which I hope captures the mood in the bonus scene:
School Days OST - Distance
Track 7: Mord (殺人): Murder
~Are you girls really the enemy of mankind? Is it really impossible to co-exist...?
If you really can't co-exist with humans...Guess I would be the first victim.~
…
ONE DAY AGO:
Kakuzawa had called Doctor Nousou into his main office with a rather placid look on his crusted and aging mug. "Nousou, are you prepared for hunting Lucy?"
Nousou grinned with a muddled expression as he answered the Director. "Of course, everything has been prepared for quite some time. Thanks to you, however, I will only be able to dispatch three of the clones now."
"You seem to have misunderstood my question." Kakuzawa cast a deadly eye towards his subordinate, "What I'm asking you is, are you ready to rumble?"
Nousou scratched the tips of fingernails together as if boasting some sort of undeserved confidence. "Well my three precious clones will be able to take care of Lucy anyth- WHAA?" Was he just trying to make a joke? He couldn't possibly mean that-
"You will be accompanying those clones of yours on this mission." Kakuzawa turned on his heels so he could face the nervous blonde, "We cannot guarantee that they will follow your orders unless you are directly conveying them in battle."
"B-But Director Kakuzawa, this is outrageous! I'm a scientist, not a soldier!" Nousou waved out his hand in protest.
"Don't fret too much," the seemingly heartless old man offered some reassurances, "I have hired a special Agent as an escort on your mission."
"A 'special agent'?" Nousou inquired. "So I assume they would be human?"
"Obviously."
"What use will a human be in trying to capture Lucy?" Nousou demanded. "If that's the case, I'd rather rely on a dog or something equivalent."
Throughout his little rant, Nousou could feel the hard steel barrel of a loaded handgun pressing against the back of his head. Judging from this presence alone, Nousou could tell he was dealing with something quite fearsome. "And how long have you been here?" he asked with a much more passive tone.
"He came here before you," Kakuzawa answered with a grained look across his face.
"I was hoping when the Director hired me I'd be more useful than a dog, but..." The mysterious Agent spun the gun around his finger. "Care to try me out little man?"
The sweat could be seen trickling down the Doctor's brow as he hid his nerves under a laugh. "No matter...You see, once a dog points a gun at his master he counts as the lowest of the dogs."
"A dog will always bare his fangs at an owner who has no value as a master – no matter how treasured he may appear." The Agent was quick to provide a crafty comeback to Nousou's remark.
"Enough with the incongruous metaphors!" the director silenced the two new rivals, "Our female informant has already disclosed the location of the Diclonius' whereabouts. Now get going!"
"But Director-"
Nousou was taken down a peg by Kakuzawa's words. "You will prove your department's worth by retrieving Lucy. Failure will lead to immediate termination of your cloning project." Kakuzawa showed his wish to end the conversation by pacing towards the back window of his office. "Don't worry, I trust his arms."
Nousou paused before he let out a deep sigh of defeat. "Alright..." As the special Agent made his way towards the door the doctor called out to him. "By the way my boy, you've got a pretty cute voice."
…
The terrified Maple Inn residents huddled behind their dinner table, the small piece of furniture symbolising a futile barrier between themselves and the array of gun barrels.
Kouta had to take the initiative and fight for his home. "H-How d-dare you do this..." He tried to maintain some assertiveness but the blonde invader could see his nerves were clearly showing.
"Hmph...Trying to be the hero now I see?" The Doctor took out another pocky stick and snapped the chocolate with his teeth. "You not only try and house a monster, but have the gall to defend her as well?"
"Kouta, what do these people want with us?" Yuka spoke out as she held Mayu and Nozomi in her arms. "Just please go away!" She hopelessly pleaded to the soldiers.
"I'm sorry but I'm afraid we cannot leave until we take our stock with us," Nousou declared as he took another step forward.
"Hey, are you crazy?" The blonde Agent next to him called the Doctor back. "Have you already forgotten about her two metre range?" He snapped as he held out his gun, aiming at the pink-haired demoness.
Nousou lifted his hands and sighed, "My bad, my bad."
"We didn't come here for fun and games," the mysterious Agent declared as he kept his pose steady and gun locked on Nyu. "Now you're coming back Lucy.
"Nyu doesn't have to go anywhere!" Kouta grabbed the Agent's collar.
Though the stoic figure's reaction didn't show it, he was the least impressed with this young man's heroics. "What did I just say?" He uttered before swiping across Kouta's face with his handgun.
"KOUTA!" Yuka jumped across the table and started shaking Kouta.
"Don't try and be the hero again or I will actually shoot you next time." The Agent wiped the blood off his gun.
"Kouta!" Nyu was about to jump over and aid Kouta when.
THUMP. Nyu felt her body being lifted by an invisible force as she was pinned up against the wall. Suddenly the invisible waves pushed against her thought as she struggled to breathe.
"NYU!"
"That's it girls, don't forget we have to capture her alive though." Nousou's grin widened as the three masked girls unleashed their vectors on Nyu.
"Please...Stop...Can't...Breathe..." Nyu struggled to lift her arm towards her neck as the tears rolled down her face.
"That's enough!" Suddenly one of the girls was thrown back by a jet of air. However the force was in fact coming from Nana's vectors as the pink-haired girl stood her ground, generating a small whirlwind around her body.
"Nana!" Mayu cried as Nozomi continued holding her.
"It's my fault these people come here...I will protect you all." Nana vowed as her face was hidden under her darkened expression.
Nousou chuckled with even more arrogance as he discovered Nana's awakening. "Number 7, the one who won't harm humans...Barbara, Alicia, teach her a lesson please." On his command the masked children launched their invisible hands onto Nana, punching their vectors across her body and sending her flying against the wall.
Nana coughed up blood as she hit the wall but quickly recovered, lifting herself back to her feet. "Ha, it doesn't hurt at all-" Nana froze when she felt several small popping noises in her shoulders. "GGGUUUAAAAAAGGHHH!"
"Nice work cutting her nerves Barbara and Alicia." As Nana writhed on the floor in tremendous pain Nousou grabbed a tuft of her hair and lifted her off the ground – Nana's artificial limbs slipping away from her body in the process.
"KYAAAAHH!" Mayu and Nozomi held each other tightly as they watched Nana's battered and limbless body being held up by the mysterious blonde like a trophy.
"We could really do with some more spinal cords," Nousou regarded, "Arrest the humans as well."
"NO!" Mayu squealed with terror as two of the solders pulled her away from Nozomi.
"Mayu!" Yuka rushed over but was knocked down by the butt of a rifle connecting with the back of her head.
"Yuka!" Nozomi was held back as another solider restrained her by the throat.
"No..." Yuka cried out weakly, "Nozomi-chan's throat..."
With Nyu still held back by Barbara and Alicia's vectors, Nana incapacitated, Kouta and Yuka knocked to the ground and Mayu and Nozomi restrained by the soldiers, there was only one member of the Inn that could still fight.
"WANTA!" Kouta called the little canine over as he bit onto a soldier's arm. Now free, Kouta quickly jumped to his feet and snatched the man's handgun.
"All of you leave now or I'll shoot him!" Kouta had Nousou on the ground as he held the gun to the man's temple.
Nousou maintained his arrogance as he said to the man of Maple Inn. "You won't shoot me, you don't have what it takes to kill..."
Kouta nodded slightly as he agreed with the man. "That may be but..." He clicked the gun as he moved it to the side of his cheek. "I can still blow your lower jaw off."
BANG!
A shot was fired...But came not from Kouta but in fact the Agent's handgun.
Kouta looked down at his black shirt, now darkened even further by the crimson elixir of his own blood.
The shot had entered through his back and exited out of his chest. Kouta had little time to admire his wounds before he slumped off of Nousou, his blood pooling around his body and seeping through the floorboards.
Nyu was completely and utterly horrified when she saw Kouta's body hit the ground. As the rings gathered under his eyes and the blood leaked out of his chest like a spilled glass of red wine, the pink-haired angel's wings were now well and truly stained in black.
They...they killed Kouta! They killed the one purpose I had in life! They killed my very existence! Now they'll pay...THEY'LL ALL PAY!
"GGGGGRRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
SPLOOSH!
...
"KOUTA!"
"KOUTA!"
"KOUTA!"
Why is everything so quiet? What is happening? Am I dying for real? I guess death doesn't feel so bad afterall...It wasn't as painful as I thought...
As the curtains of Kouta's vision came to a close, he could see the blood of the soldiers and two of the clones painting the room. When he saw the huge regrown horns and dark glare in Nyu's eyes – he knew somewhere inside of himself, that he had ultimately failed everyone.
So I can no longer stop Nyu from killing...I cannot protect anyone anymore...
The last colour Kouta would see was red before his world became completely enshrouded in darkness...
…
"Look, Kouta look at these seashells I collected for you..."
"Heh, those ones are too small..."
"Mou, Kouta your such an idiot!"
'''
"Is you're cousin a boy or a girl?"
"Um...My cousin...he's a boy."
'''
"Promise you'll come back here and visit me next year..."
"Okay Yuka, it's a promise."
'''
"I hate you! Don't ever speak to me again!"
"Kouta? Kouta please don't hate Kanae, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just please don't-"
'''
"AAAAGGGHHH!"
"That other girl will be next."
"NOOOOO! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! UUUWWAAAAAGGGHHHH!"
'''
"I have just one thing I want you to promise me..."
"Okay Kouta...I promise..."
…
"Ugh..." Kouta wasn't sure if he had reached heaven yet, but judging by the couple of gorgeous guardian angels hovering over his shoulder, he may as well have been.
"Kouta! Oh thank goodness you're alive!" one of the angels, who looked an awful lot like Yuka, sobbed over his chest.
When the pain and weakness returned, Kouta knew he had not quite reached paradise just yet. "Ugh...Where's Nyu?"
"She went after those people outside." Yuka looked at the horde of limbs and organs which were scattered across the room. "Kouta, how could all this have happened to us? It's like we're living in a nightmare..."
Kouta sighed weakly as he wrapped an arm around Yuka. "I'm sorry, I should've known this was gonna happen...I can't even stop Nyu at this rate..."
"Kouta?" Yuka ceased her sobbing as she gazed upon Kouta's clouded eyes.
"It's too late now..." Kouta wheezed as his breath fell short. "Please...forgive...me"
And this time, Kouta felt like he really had left the nightmare that had been his world – his life.
…
MEANWHILE - OUTSIDE THE MAPLE INN:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
"FUCK! GET THE CHOPPER DOWN HERE NOW!" Nousou spat onto his radio as more of the soldiers bodies were being ripped apart by Lucy. He was knocked to the ground by a couple of rogue limbs that had been amputated by the Queen herself.
Shit! Her range has increased from two metres! Why did we not calculate for her increased range?
BOOM. The chopper exploded in a golden display of fire and warping metal as the frame descended over the head of the scientist.
Oh god...He scrunched his eyes closed, waiting for the inevitable pain that would befall him...
But nothing happened, which caused him a good amount of shock and surprise; shouldn't he be dying in agony by now? He cracked his eye open again, checking if he possibly had died instantly and was already on his way to whatever waited for him after death.
"Barbara!" Nousou noticed one of his last remaining clones was holding up the front of the chopper using the full strength of her body and vectors. Now that her helmet had been sliced off, he felt regret when he could see the desperation and sadness in her eyes.
She's trying to save me? Why would she save someone like me?
Past Barbara, he could see Lucy was walking over quite mockingly. She held a small rock in her hand and fired the projectile at Barbara's right leg, the limb exploding apart at the knee.
"BARBARA! I WANT YOU TO FORGET ABOUT ME AND KILL LUCY...THAT IS AN ORDER!" But Barbara continued holding up the chopper even after Lucy threw a garden ornament that smashed away her left forearm."BARBARA! I'M ORDERING YOU TO KILL LUCY! WHY ARE YOU IGNORING MY ORDER?"
"What a sad bunch of playthings you've created..." Lucy regarded as she was now right behind Barbara. "You made them all look like that little brat, but they were fucking weak!"
Dammit! At this rate, Barbara is going to be killed too... Nousou noticed the head less body of Cynthia, her lonely head still shedding tears even in death. He also saw the lower half of Alicia near the foot of the house, her left foot still twitching. Why did I create these clones, was I really that selfish?...
…
FOUR DAYS AGO:
"These are our side's Diclonii." Nousou pulled away one of the helmets to reveal one of his successful creations. "These four are clones of the strongest Diclonius." Nousou claimed, referring to the Silpelit number 37: Mariko.
"Diana, could you please part your hair for a moment?" Nousou gave the clone of Mariko an order which she obediently followed. When Diana parted her hair, she revealed a circular, metallic object which was embedded in her brain. "These little trinkets were put in place of their frontal lobes so they are rendered completely obedient to my orders – no matter how absurd they may be."
Nousou spread out his arms and called over to the other three girls. "Well now you girls, come to me."
"~MYU" Suddenly the four girls mobbed the eccentric scientist, nearly knocking him to the ground as they wrapped their arms around his body.
"Hey now, settle down!" Nousou struggled as he tried to maintain his professionalism in front of the Director. "I admit, the partial lobe removal has had some consequences on their oral and cognitive development but..." Nousou's packet of pocky sticks fell out of his pocket which suddenly attracted the four clones. "Hey don't eat those without my permission!"
The dark crescents which occupied Kakuzawa's eyes hinted that he was very unimpressed. "Are these girls really as obedient as you claim?"
"Of course they are!" Nousou tried to defend his creations as if they were his own daughters.
"I don't believe it," Kakuzawa bluntly regarded as the girls continued nibbling the confectionery. "Prove it then, prove that they'll obey any order."
Nousou sighed as he realised what he'd have to do. "I really didn't want to harm these girls but I guess I have no choice now." Nousou drew out a small hunting knife and held the blade out for the unmasked clone. "Diana, stab your arm with this now, that's an order."
Suddenly the candy slipped out of Diana's mouth as she stood up and grabbed the knife off her master. Her face became that of a zombie, a zombie being controlled of her will by the necromancer that was Nousou.
She hesitated at first when the cold blade touched her bare flesh, but quickly enough she drive the blade deep into her upper arm, her cold expression hardly budging as her blood splashed across her innocent young face.
As she continued twisting and digging into the bone of her arm with the blade, Nousou finally stopped her. "That's enough Diana!"
When she pulled out the large blade she cocked her head to one side, tears started trickling from those dead eyes before she finally began bawling
"MYU!" Diana cried out as the other girls started cooing softly and brushing her soft light pink hair to comfort her.
"*Sigh* I'm sorry, Diana, I'll get you some more sweets to make up for it." Nousou then turned back to the Director, "Satisfied? So you now see that they'll now obey every ord-"
"It's a useless farce," Kakuzawa interjected.
"What do you mean?" Nousou now seemed quite insulted.
"If they are truly worth the massive funding and Silpelit cost, then show me that they're willing to throw away even their own lives."
Nousou's jaw dropped before he conceded to his superior's request. "Very well...Diana." He called back over the same girl who'd stabbed her own arm. "Pierce you heart with this knife...That's an order."
The clone Diclonius grabbed the knife and held the tip of the blade by her left breast. Fresh tears came from her eyes as the blade started scratching into her breast.
"What are you waiting for that's an order!" Nousou shouted over as she began trembling. But after a few more tense seconds she finally executed the ultimate order – the knife jutting straight out of her back as she heaved forward. The blood instantly burst out of her chest like a damaged fire hydrant . The final remnants of life left her eyes as she hit the ground with a wet thud.
The three clones stood silently by one side of Diana's body whilst Nousou and Kakuzawa remained by the other side. "Good enough?"
"I guess so," Kakuzawa casually remarked. "Lucy will be forced to understand where she belongs in no time, so be prepared for her to appear anytime," Kakuzawa mentioned as he began to depart the small dungeon.
As the greying villain left the room Nousou knelt down so he could see Diana's face. She was still panting faintly as her life was being drained away. "You've done well Diana, there's plenty more replacement hearts at my disposal."
…
"Fuck..." Nousou continued cursing his plight at the hands of the psychopathic Diclonius. "If my legs weren't pinned down I could get away." Nousou noticed Barbara was barely holding up the front of the chopper with her back. "BABRARA WHY WON'T YOU LET GO?"
"You've stolen my life, you've stolen the one thing that kept me from killing you all." Lucy swore her vengeance for Kouta - who was lying just several metres back inside the Maple Inn, his idle body being rocked by his cousin. "If you want her to let go of the chopper so badly then I shall grant you that wish!" As she was about to use the invisible guillotine on Barbara, the clone Diclonius pushed the chopper off her back as she let go of the giant metal frame.
"THAT'S IT BARBARA NOW QUICKLY KILL LUCY!" Nousou shouted with desperation. But it seemed she would defy his orders to the very end as instead of charging towards Lucy, she leapt under the falling chopper, extending her arm out towards the cruel scientist.
Nousou had shed a tear for the clone he had created as she whimpered, "Umyuu," one last time before the chopper crushed the two of them.
Lucy stared at the burning metal. Kouta, I swear I will avenge you, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to break that promise...
SNAP. Before Lucy could make her next move she felt one of her enlarged horns break off.
"UWAAAGGGGHHH!"
The Agent cautiously watched Lucy's throes as he hid behind a wall with the upper body of Alicia in his arms.It seems no matter how much pain or injury these clones receive, they can still use their vectors...
"GAGH! AGH!" Lucy struggled on her four limbs as she tried to get back to her feet.
"I'm surprised you're still moving." The Agent calmly walked out in front of Lucy, holding the handgun with his free arm. "I suppose you cannot use your vectors anymore."
"GUAAAGGHH!" Lucy continued growling like an enraged beast as she lowered her head, struggling to get off her knees.
"Well I suppose if I broke that other horn of yours would that shut you up?" The Agent aimed his gun and fired one more shot, the sound ringing through the otherwise placid forests of Kamakura.
"Finally some peace and quiet," The Agent casually regarded as he stood over Lucy's comatose body. Studying Lucy's blank white eyes and blood drooling out of her loosely opened mouth, he produced the radio to deliver the message Kakuzawa's research facility was waiting to hear for more than nine enduring months.#You hear me? Ah it's me...We have secured Lucy...I will let you recover her...#
'''''
'''''
"Oh yyeeeess!"Arakawa moaned, "Oh GAWD this is so good!" The...'episode'...that occurred after the boy who lived with Lucy left had been the metaphorical straw that broke the camel's already huge back, so before she headed back to the research facility she went straight to the girl's locker room and took the best shower of her entire life! "This is sooooo better than sex!" she exclaimed, letting the steaming waterfall wash away the grime that had been caked on for who knows how long.
After she towelled off and redressed she headed down to Kakuzawa-sensei's lab. Not because she had any fond memories of him, (truth be told they rarely interacted with each other outside of that lab), but because there might still be something in that lab that she could use to her own ends. She remembered him saying that he kept all his really important work well hidden, though he never actually said where.
"I guess he didn't plan on dying so soon..." she mumbled as played through the memory, trying to remember anything that might give her a clue to the hiding place's location.
The lab was practically spotless; most of Kakuzawa's things had either been moved to the facility already or had been properly disposed of.
Two hours later yielded nothing but empty hands and a slightly aching back.
"Dammit, where could it be?" she wondered, starting to get frustrated at her fruitless search. "Why couldn't he have made it easier to find?" she cried, letting her frustration get to her as she kicked the nearest wall.
This had caused a small portion of said wall to swing open, revealing a small personal safe filled with papers.
"No way it could be that easy..." she marvelled as she rifled through the papers.
A moment later she found what she was looking for.
"This is just what I need," she said, smiling devilishly. "You'd better watch your back Mr. Director, or else the god of the new world will be me..."
Elfen Lied The Second Verse - Episode 8 Preview
"I'll give you 36 hours...It is my only deadline."
"We can't afford to have that kind of person in our house!"
"It has to be here...The traitor that lives with humans!"
"Hello again Lucy...I hope you'll play a bit gentler this time! G-HEE-HEE-HEE"
"This place...Where am I? Please just let me go back home..."
Hope and despair...Light and darkness...Revival and destsruction. The horned angels weave between these forces, sewing our fates with the invisible threads of death. What is Kouta's prognosis? And where has Nyu been taken to? Find out in the next dramatic installment of Elfen Lied: The Second Verse!
