A/N: Chapter 9 of Crimson Wing. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own OCs. Coppelion belongs to the rightful owner.
Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it.
Chapter 9: Sunset (II)
In the sky...
"Vice Principal...! Come in, Vice Principal!"
"What happened!?" Mishima asked as he held the radio in his hand, listening to the frantic voice of his students. "What's the situation?!"
"Please!" Aoi's voice float through amidst the sound of the jeep roaring in the background. "We need you at the base in 10 minutes...!"
"10 minutes!?" Mishima stared at his lieutenant in horror. "That's a time crunch for sure!"
"The doctor was caught in the radiation!" Aoi explained as quickly as she could. "Ibara-sempai injected him with etel before they flew ahead. It'll probably last 10...no, 9 minutes at most!"
"Where is Naruse now?"
"She's with the doctor." Aoi answered. "She and Kaz-chan are making their way back to the base as we speak!"
"Okay!" Mishima replied before turning his head towards the pilot and barking out the order. "Gun it at full speed!"
Oh crap, his face is getting paler and paler. Ibara thought as she held on tightly to my mane. We've been flying back towards base as fast as I could, my wings beating powerfully against the air currents.
"Do you think he should wear a mask?!" Kaige's voice shouted through her radio to be heard above the winds. They had their radio on to hear any conversation that was happening through the channel. "If he's that pale, it may be dangerous."
"It's the etel!" Ibara replied hastily, holding onto Dr. Shiba tightly so that he didn't fall off my back when I decided to make a sharp bank to the left to avoid a vicious current that came from the front. "There's no point for him to wear the mask!"
"Cesium 137 has already entered my body." The professor spoke softly, his chest rising as he fought for breath. "The radiation will keep eating away at my muscle, bit by bit. Eventually, everything including my cardiac muscles will give out...and then...I'll die."
"Don't talk about it like that." Aoi's tearful voice floated through. She was desperately holding it in as she put up her cheerful facade. "You'll make it in time! Don't talk about dying so casually...!"
"Not yet?! We've only got 7 minutes left!" The vice principal shouted with worry as he looked at the stopwatch in his hand. Beads of sweat rolled down his face with worry. "I refuse to let you go easily like running water! Pilot! Are you there yet?!"
"I see it!" The pilot said as the helicopter flew as fast as it could through the polluted skies. "It's Tokyo! We're almost there!"
"Hold on tight girls!" Kaige said as she slammed her foot on the gas with a grin on her face. The jeep spurred forward and thundered down the silent roads.
"We'll make it!" Taeko said as she hung on tight to the dashboard till her knuckles turned white. "We're at the Kogane Prefecture highway! The base should be over there!"
"Wait!" Aoi screamed just as one of the tires blew, throwing every single passenger to the side. "Arrrgh! We're gonna crash and get smoshed like human pancakes!"
"Tch! The brakes are out!" Kaige swore before unbuckling her seat belt. Wrapping one arm around Aoi and another around Taeko, she jumped out just as the vehicle careened into an abandoned building. They rolled to a stop before looking at the wreckage.
"Hey! What happened?!" Ibara gripped the radio tightly in her hand when she heard a large crash. "Aoi! Taeko! Respond!"
"We're fine! We just got into a little fender bender!" Aoi's voice came through in puffs, no doubt trying to calm herself down. "Keep going! We'll catch up in no time!"
"B...But!"
"Don't worry about us, Chief!" Kaige's voice took over, practically yelling so I could hear since one of my ears swiveled back to catch some words. "Get yer asses to that base and we'll see you guys there! You can count on it!"
"You heard her..." Ibara said and petted my neck with confidence, feeling the muscles ripple underneath the scales as I flew back to the base. "God speed Kaziah."
Base...
"Shit! When are they getting here?!" Kamata said frantically as he looked at his own watch, resisting the urge to pace around. Mr. Wolf barked once before the sound of beating wings reached their ears and he looked up as I touched down, tucking in my wings so my riders could dismount with ease. "Oh...! You've made it! I heard it all on the radio!"
"Carefully now." Ibara said as she hoisted Professor Shiba down to the ground, making a make-shift pillow out of a spare jacket. I shifted back to my human form and waltzed over to see if I could be of any use. "Let's just lay him here since he shouldn't be moved too much."
"Damn it...how could something like this happen to the professor...?" Kamata swore as he appeared by her side, looking at Shiba with a worried expression. "He doesn't look too good..."
"Where's the helicopter?!" Ibara asked him with wide eyes. "I thought the Vice Principal was on his way!"
"Huh...!? It's not here yet!" He looked at her with horror. "You don't think it got lost on the way do you?!"
"WHAT!? IT DIDN'T COME YET!" We looked up to see Kaige running in on the scene with Taeko and Aoi in her arms, nostrils flaring with anger and a huge cloud of smoke behind her for her feet were kicking up dust. When she came to a halt she placed both girls back on their feet and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Damn it! And I ran all the way here for nothing!"
"There's not that much time left!" Taeko said as she looked at her own watch. "It's going by faster and faster!"
"It's out of our hands now..." Ibara concluded as she stared off into the distance, her eyes fixated on the setting sun. "It's up to the vice principal."
"Good job Kaz." Kaige praised as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders, still out of breath but she managed a weak smile. "I knew you could do it."
"He...wasn't your vice principal a victim of the Nuclear power plant explosion?" Shiba asked in a weak voice, his eyes opened just a tiny bit. "That's what I heard...his wife and daughter died...I was the one that killed them." He released a sigh. "If only I could go back 20 years...everything was brighter back then..." He turned his head towards us. "Please...let me die. I would not like to have to face him."
"The vice principal isn't that kind of person." Ibara told him without a hint of doubt in her voice. "He's a minister of self-defense. The job as a minister of self-defense, is to protect the citizens. That's why he's on his way...to help you."
"It's...It's no good..." Taeko said as she held the watch in shaky fingers. "The Ether's effect is...less than 1 minute left!"
"Then he'll be exposed to the radiation! Oh please hurry!" I watched with worry, nervously biting on my nails. Ibara didn't say anything but continued to stare up into the sky. Suddenly a gust of wind picked up and we all tilted our heads to see a helicopter flying above us.
"The vice principal! He came!" Aoi exclaimed happily and threw her arms up into the air. "He came!"
"Naruse!" The door flew open and Mishima appeared with a bag in hand, his face hidden by the mask but we were sure he was as nervous as us. "The ether! Take it!"
"Ibara hurry!" Taeko said as she and Aoi helped Dr. Shiba sit up, the professor was fading in and out of consciousness. The time was 7 seconds. As it began nearing the zero mark, thanks to Ibara's swift movement, she fired the bullet and it hit its mark. When the doctor opened his eyes we all sighed with relief and even Aoi held her thumb up as a 'mission accomplish' signal.
"She...She made it!"
"Horray! The doctor is saved!" Everyone on the helicopter cheered and applauded. "We did it!"
Well done Naruse, well done. Mishima wiped his brow and smiled. Almost gave me a fucking heart attack but you did it!
"Yeaah!" Kaige pulled me up into a hug and spun me around. "She did it! She actually did it!"
"We did it, Vice Principal!" Lieutenant Ibuse said as the rest of the crew continued to leap for joy. "This cause for a celebration!"
"There's too much left to be done before we can begin to think about celebrate! Alright boys, let's touch down!" Mishima ordered.
"No abnormal readings and the helicopter is about to land. It has a room with a safe air supply inside, so you'll be okay." Taeko spoke as Dr. Shiba closed his eyes with happiness. She then turned to see her leader. "We made it in time somehow!"
"Thank goodness..." Ibara spoke as she sobbed, tears dripping to the ground as she crouched on her hands and knees. "Thank goodness."
"Heh, that's amazing..." Kaige wiped away some tears herself as Aoi and Taeko knelt by their leader with tears in their own eyes. "C'mon Kaz, let's get into that feast too."
"Aye sir!" I chirped and we went to join the three of them and shared their moment of triumph together.
After awhile...
Men in protective suits greeted us as they hopped off the helicopter, giving us either instructions or words of congratulations. However Lady Ayame snapped irritably, noting that she could walk on her own and refused any assistance. The most intense moment was when Mishima and Dr. Shiba met face to face.
I held my breath and I could tell that the others felt the same way. After learning that because of the radioactive plant that Shiba created, Mishima's family had perished. Ibara tightened her grip on the doctor since she was helping him move since she didn't know how badly the Vice-Principal would react. Slowly he lifted his arm, holding it out for the doctor.
"You must be awfully tired...Take my hand, Professor Shiba." He said much to our amazement.
"Thank you..." The doctor teared up and he looked at our smiling faces. "Thank you, everyone..." As he prepared to board he turned to look at us as we stood behind. There's still a lot more that needed to be done, our work was far from over. "Ibara..."
"Yes Professor?" She replied, looking at him with such innocence in her eyes. "What is it?"
"Because of the mistakes made by us adults...you children have had to suffer great sorrow. And despite that...we are going so far as to make you clean up our mess for us." His lips trembled. "Forgive us...for causing the world to become like this."
"That...That sort of thing is too difficult for me to understand." She spoke after a minute of silence. "But...there's one thing I do get and that is..." Raising her arm she looked up at the sky and smiled. "The sky is beautiful again today so I'm not that sad or anything."
"Oho~ You're right." Kaige smiled as well and we all took that moment to stare at the light blue color. It must have been because I had been sheltered for 20 years that I had never seen the skies as blue as they were and that was a blessing.
"Here's a list of the survivors." Mishima handed Ibara an old worn-out notebook before making his way back to the helicopter. "So please do whatever you can to save them...and this beautiful city."
"I will." She answered as the transport vehicle rose high into the air, Lady Ayame waving her arms in goodbye through the open door. Circling around the base a couple of times it departed towards the safe zone and left Tokyo behind.
"Vice Principal...those girls..." Dr. Shiba choked back a sob as he looked out the window. "Those three...they aren't dolls. They're all real people, right? They weren't created to perish in this mess right?"
"Yes, I feel the same way Professor."
"So now it's the five of us again...well six including Mr. Wolf." Aoi said as the sun began to set over the horizon and we were left to walk down the desolate streets once more.
"Hey you know what, I'm having a blast!" Kaige folded her arms behind her head and laughed. "This just might be the best thing to have happened in 20 years!"
"So what's the plan now?" I asked Ibara as she looked at the notebook. She smiled.
"We'll aim for the city center for now. I forgot to request a mobile home but since we're walking it'll be better for our health."
"Or we could hitch a ride..." Aoi commented.
"I actually want to take a look at the scenery." Taeko mirrored Ibara's smile. "It helps add some color to this place and I want to witness it with my own two eyes."
"Well then, let's get going!" Ibara turned on her heels and proceeded to walk off. "If we're lucky we'll find some shelter for the night."
"Ibara before we continue I wanted to say something..." Aoi took a deep breath before continuing. "You've done more than enough. If there's anything I've learned today it's that...you aren't superhuman. Even you need others to help you...when things get tough."
"Huh? Where did this come from?" She asked.
"We are also Coppelion, we might be dead weights and useless but..." Taeko stood shoulder to shoulder with Aoi with a determined look on her face. "We'll do our best to accompany you so you don't have to cry alone."
"We'll always be with you, through the thick and thin." Aoi added. "We will never leave your side even if you tell us no."
"You two..." Ibara gazed at them, her throat tightening with emotion. "Thank you..."
"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" They turned to see us standing off to the side looking unwanted. Kaige had a mild scowl on her face while I just laughed. Mr. Wolf's tail was wagging back and forth. "It's not like we didn't tag along just for fun and games right?"
"How could we forget you all?" Ibara shook her head with a smile. "You've been a great help."
"Yeah and we plan to keep it that way!" The girl smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "Kaz and I, we got no reason to go back home."
"So we'll lend you our support until everything is accounted for and put back in order." I added. "After all we're fighting for the same future right? A cleaner future, a future where humans can live here once again. That's the future I hope we can achieve together."
"Then let's make that future come true." Ibara grinned and we began walking side by side, deeper into the danger areas. "Our field trip has only just begun!"
