Author's note: Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading this, and all your reviews, and EVERYTHING! You guys really are too kind. Wait, no you're not. You're not being kind enough. BE KINDER. Heheh. No, it's fine! I just have one request. If you read this regularily, and you haven't ever left a review, please do if you have the time! I just LOVE reviews. I try to answer every one of them I get! I just want some motivation, I want to know that people like/don't like my story. Thanks! (P.S: For the people who read yesterdays post, I at popovers. MAN, they were AWESOME! All buttery and delicious, yum!)

Disclaimer: I don't own the vocaloids.. Or Cryptin/Crypton. Or Triple Baka, the song mentioned in here.

Claimer: I WANNA MAKE A CLAIMER, TO SHOW WHAT I DO OWN. I own Hiro, and Ocidem, and Sutin building, and Akuyami tower, and Katusido, and Ata Udne. Have you ever wondered how I make all these names up? I look up some Japanese words relating to the character and mix them with Spanish words until they're unrecognizable. The result? Really, really, REALLY weird names!

Chapter Nine

It was about mid-day when the packages arrived.

An armored truck pulled up next to a seemingly blank stretch of mountain. It waited there for a few seconds before a tree was pushed aside to reveal a hole. A man, a guard, more specifically, walked out and up to the truck. After exchanging a password, the man stood back as a piece of the mountain slid up to reveal a paved entrance. The truck rolled in a few yards, then stopped.

The one driving the truck stepped out, followed by someone else, someone who pushed his square glasses up as he turned to the guard that had let them in.

"Unload them." said Ocidem. The guard nodded and called to some other guards.

They all ran over and unlocked the back of the truck. There, silent, rested six huge square packages.

"Perfect." purred Ocidem as the guards unloaded the boxes. "Now, put in the sleeping gas."

The guards pumped some gas into an opening in each of the crates.

"Okay. Now take them to the experimentation tables. We've got to do this quickly, before their little friends get involved."

A guard pried open the first box, reached in, and pulled something out.

And then Miku, asleep, was in his arms, her teal hair reaching towards the floor.

Another guard opened the next crate, and drew out a boy with gray hair and a metallic-looking uniform.

Mikuo was taken next, then BRS, then Lily.

Kaito mumbled something when he was being taken out, and all the guards stopped and drew their guns.

"It's okay." said Ocidem. "He's asleep."

Two guards picked him up and left.

The last crate was opened. And in it... was Gakupo.

He had purple shadow under his eyes, his mouth slightly open. The long, purple hair streamed out behind him.

"Ah, yes." said Ocidem, smirking. "Model E. Gakupo. Yes, we are going to have some fun with this one. Take him."

And then Gakupo was taken as well.

They were all strapped down on long, inclined tables in a room filled with surgical instruments, machines, and flashing lights.

Slowly, they started to wake up.

The first one up was BRS. Her blue eyes shot open, and she turned.

"Uh... guys? Guys?"

Lily murmered and her eyes fluttered open. "Oh!" she said in surprise.

Gakupo was the next one. Eyelids lifted slowly, and he gazed at the ceiling. And then, it hit him again.

Luka was dead.

A fresh batch of tears filled his eyes.

Slowly, everyone woke up, and the Vocaloids had their first glimpse of Piko.

His shiny, gray hair was lit up at the edges by his eyes, which were turquoise and... and glowing!"

"Your eyes glow?" said Miku.

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." said Piko. "They gave me night vision."

"Why?" asked Kaito.

"Idunno." said Piko, and tried to shrug, but his bonds wouldn't hold him.

Gakupo gulped, and everyone looked towards him. New tears were trickling out.

"Gakupo, you've got to stop crying!" said Lily. "The scientist here sense weakness, look for it. You've got to act strong on the outside!"

"How can I?" moaned Gakupo. "Sh-sh-she's g-gone!"

Mikuo sighed. "I feel guilty. Haku is safe... and of course, I'm happy about that... but, Luka is... she's..."

Gakupo turned his head. "No, it's okay. It's good that's Haku's alive. If we get out of here... you'll see her again. You have someone to live for."

Mikuo nodded. "Yeah." he said.

"You do too, Gakupo." said Lily. "Your life isn't over. Wounds heal. There are plenty of fish in the ocean."

The mention of fish made Gakupo even sadder. "But... she was the best fish in the whole wide world."

Lily didn't know what to answer to that. Neither did the rest of them.

Ocidem walked in.

"Why, hello there, children." he said. "I don't see your friends coming. Could it be that they have forgotten you?"

"No, they would never forget about us!" said Kaito.

"Well, even if they did, they won't find much left by the time they get here." sneered Ocidem. "We will be starting soon."

He walked over to Gakupo. "I think that we'll start with you, pretty boy. I'm curious as to some things... of course, the stupid government doesn't allow human dissections. Well, lucky for us, you aren't human. We could dissect you... but while you're alive, of course. It keeps the organs better preserved... and plus, what fun would it be if you're already dead?"

Ocidem laughed and ran his finger down Gakupo's cheek. Gakupo tried to turn away, gritting his teeth.

"Yes, this'll be fun." he said.

"You're SICK!" yelled Miku. "You're a sick SADIST!"

"You're so loud... why don't we do you after that?" said Ocidem. Miku stopped talking.

Ocidem laughed maniacally, his shoulders shaking, as he walked out.

"You're insane!" BRS called after him. That just made him laugh harder.

"We're doomed." Piko said sadly.

It was night.

The moon loomed over the city, big and round. It's light fell across the buildings, and the roads, and illuminated a small group of people standing by the road.

A bus stood next to these people, white an plain, stopped by the side of the road. There was no one else there. Not one car went past. "

Hiro walked up to them.

"Are... are you sure that you're ready for this?" he asked.

Ann tugged on his shirt. "Don't worry, we'll be fine!" she said, smiling.

"This is something I... we have to do." said Luka. She looked towards the horizon, where the sun had rested only moments before. "Gakupo is counting on us."

"They all are." said Meiko.

"Even if I or Gakupo die," said Luka, determined. "I want Gakupo to know that I was alive for a time before that. I want to be able to say goodbye, die by his side-"

"No one will die." said Haku.

"Yeah, Luka." said Rin. "Nothing in the plan said anything about losing.

"Or dying!" added Len.

"Yeah, guess you're right." said Luka, a slight smile turning the corners of her mouth up.

"Funny." said Akita. "We were here, like this, a few years ago, remember? To save Gakupo."

"You didn't fail that time, did you?" said Gumi, walking up to the bus. "You won't fail now."

"Gumi! You're coming?" said Meiko, hopefully.

Gumi nodded, and Meiko squealed and hugged her. "Yay! I knew you really did care!"

Gumi turned red, but in the darkness, no one saw.

Rin pulled Meiko off. "Let's get going!" she said, and dragged her into the bus. Everyone followed.

"Wait." said Akita. "Who's gonna drive...?"

"I can drive." said Gumi.

"Can you drive... normal?" Len asked tentatively.

"Uh... sure, why not?" said Gumi.

Everyone sighed in relief.

"Good. You had us worried for a second there." said Rin.

"The speed limit is, like, 90 miles an hour or so, right?" said Gumi.

"We're dead." groaned Akita, and slid into a seat.

Luka took a window seat. Al peeked over the seat in front of hers.

"Gakupo's strong." he said. "And so are the rest of them. They'll hold on."

Luka closed her eyes. "But... Gakupo... what if he does something stupid? I know how depressed I was when he disappeared... but he thinks he saw me die! What'll he do?"

"He'll be waiting there for you. I know he will." said Al, then sat back down.

But despite his encouraging words, he was also very worried about Miku.

And Haku was thinking of Mikuo.

Meiko was thinking about her secret love... for Kaito.

Ann was longing for Lily, her friend, who had always helped her when she needed help.

Truth was, their small group was big collage of broken hearts, all taped together in the hope, however small, of making something full and beautiful once more.

The captured Vocaloids waited on the operating tables.

Time ticked by, slow and unforgiving, as they awaited their imminent doom.

A scientist came in and wheeled a cart of instruments next to Gakupo's table.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Gakupo's face. The instruments looked sharp and menacing.

About an hour after that, another scientist came in and strapped a big, clunky, brown thing over Gakupo's mouth and nose. He couldn't speak any longer.

"Don't worry... everything's going to be okay..." Lily said, over and over.

Miku closed her eyes, and opened her mouth.

She sang,

"Before I knew it, I was saying "G'morning!" in front of my monitor.
After some time, I began to feel sleepy..."

It was Triple Baka. The rest of the Vocaloids, except for Piko, recognized song, and most joined in with her.

"Despite being busy, I, like a spoiled child,
am being drawn in by your tempting words:
"You are really stupid."
"I'm seriously hooked on you..."

Gakupo was the only one that didn't at even least try to sing. He couldn't, of course.

"Stupid stupid stupid!
What is it that has been motivating you so much?
I start flying towards an unknown world, with my hope.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!.."

What's motivating me now? thought Gakupo. I... I don't know. It's not the motivation to love someone else, or to see everyone else again... so what is it? Why am I still struggling to live?

"Stupid stupid stupid!
Don't you still have a lot of things to take care of?
Crying, laughing, getting angry, let me handle all of them!
I'll dye them with my colors..."

And then it hit him.

I'm not striving to live in her honor, in her memory...

I'm trying to get out of this alive so I can see her again.

And then a small, almost non-existent hope was kindled inside him.

He hadn't actually seen Luka die.

Part of him pushed the thought away. She was probably dead, that's what Ocidem said, that's what the screen at the lab said.

But the other part of him, the part that cried, sobbed over Luka, immersed itself in this fantasy, in this small hope, drowned itself in the dream of him seeing Luka again.

It was like... ghosts. Part of you scoffs that they can't be real, but the other part listens for strange sounds and footsteps in the night.

And as they all waited, singing, the clock ticked on.

The bus rolled on.

Rin and Len sat playing with cards that they had sneaked onto the bus.

"Really. Do you think that you should be playing at a time like this?" said Meiko disapprovingly. The twins ignored her. Akita didn't.

"Why not?" said Akita, lazily spinning a strand of hair around her index finger. "We're going to throw ourselves into a huge battle, why not have some fun before that?"

"How do you think it makes... her feel?" whispered Meiko.

The twins stopped playing and turned to look at Luka.

She stared out the window, her mouth slightly open, with her face propped up on her hand.

"Hey, Luka! Wanna come play cards with us?"

"Wait! Not! Th-that's not what I...what I meant...!" stammered Meiko, turning red.

"Sure, why not?" said Luka. Meiko just stared.

"Nice job, Meiko." snickered Al.

"Oh, shut your hair gel up!" said Meiko crossly.

"Shut my-hair gel-?" he whirled around. "That doesn't even make any... any sense!"

"Shhh!" said Ann. "They're playing cards!"

Al sank back into his seat, his face red.

Haku looked at him from the seat across. "If everyone keeps saying things about your hair gel," she said, "Why don't you stop wearing it?"

"Because!" he said. "I FEEL like it! Sheesh, can't a guy wear hair products without being harassed these days?"

"Apparently not." said Haku, then turned to look out the window.

"Hey!" said Al. "Just who's side are you on?"

Haku didn't answer, leaving Al to grumble about girls.

Suddenly, the bus screeched to a stop. Everyone turned to Gumi, at the front.

They had arrived at the Katsusido moutain pass.

Gumi lowered her goggles onto her eyes. "Gimme a sec." she muttered, and the goggles glowed red. She looked all over the mountainside, scanning it.

"Huh." said Len. "X-ray goggles. Who knew?"

"THERE!" shouted Gumi. "I see it, I see it!"

"See what?" said Akita. Suddenly, the bus shot forward, and everyone screamed. Gumi pointed to a blank stretch of wall.

"THERE! THERE THERE THERE!" she said. Everyone was confused.

"Uh... Gumi?" said Ann, sweetly. "That's just... rock."

"Nuh-uh, nuh-uh!" said Gumi. "That's the..."

She removed her goggles and stopped talking.

"Huh." she said.

She put the goggles back on and took them off again.

"A... hidden lab?" she said, then smacked her forehead. "Of COURSE! But.. how do we get in?"

Everyone thought.

"Blast through the wall?" said Al.

"No! Wait... well, how else?" said Meiko.

"Well... hm. I don't like it, but I guess that it's the only sure way of getting into the place. So... yeah. We can blast through."

"But how do we do that?" said Rin, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like we carry explosives around with us!"

Len coughed.

Rin stared at him.

"Really?" she said.

Len nodded.

"Okay, looks like that's set!" said Gumi, clapping her hands. "We should get going, then!"

Ocidem walked into the lab that held the Vocaloids.

"Why, hello there!" he said, pulling on a pair of gloves. Gakupo's heart skipped a beat.

"I'm going to set some things up now." he said, and walked over to Gakupo's table. Gakupo's eyes widened in fear.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die. he thought, terrified.

Ocidem wiped off some instruments, then ripped part of Gakupo's shirt away. Then, he cranked a handle and the table holding Gakupo straightened out.

Then, he picked up a shiny scalpel and pulled a mask over his mouth.

"Okay, then." he said, smiling. "Let's begin."

And then Gakupo squeezed his eyes shut as Ocidem lowered the scalpel towards his stomach...