Chapter 10: Awakening Giants Part II
Pai awakens to the sound of Zakuro's soft singing. He opens his eyes and turn to her. He grabs his arm and kisses his hand, lovingly. Tears were in her eyes. He tries to get up, but feels a sharp pain in his chest.
"No! Stay here and rest." Zakuro helps him lay down comfortably again. She kisses his forehead.
"What happened? How did we get away? Are you... okay?"
She places a hand on his cheek. "Ichigo saved us. How do you feel?"
Pai grasps her hand. "Groggy..."
"That's understandable. You were in surgery." she responds.
"Surgery!" he opens his shirt to reveal thick bandages. "What did they do to me?"
"They had to replace two of your ribs," she responds. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried."
He grasps her hand tighter and smiles at her. "I'm hardy. I'll be okay."
Zakuro's stomach growls. She smiles at him, embarrassed, and stands up. He looks at her and chuckles.
"You get some rest. I'm just going to the cafeteria," she gives him a kiss on the lips.
She steps out of the room, clutching her stomach. She leans against the wall. I couldn't tell him. Seeing him lying there... This is the environment we will bring our child up in? Never knowing if Mommy and Daddy will make it home at night. Is this fair to our child? She sighs. I grew up without a parent... can I do that to my child?
As she walks toward the cafeteria, she sees several nurses whispering. Then, the youngest one hesitantly approaches her. "Um... Mew Zakuro..."
"Hmm?" she asks, more interested in dinner than this woman.
"Congratulations on your baby!" she seems to glow with happiness. "I'm such a fan!" Three more nurses, a male and two females, join them, also giving their congratulations.
"It's the The Purple Knight's, isn't it?" the male nurse asks.
Yet another nurse approaches, "Have you thought of any names yet?"
"What did The Purple Knight say? Had you all been trying long?" an older nurse jumps in.
Zakuro's stomach grumbles.
The group chuckles. "Well, of course you would be hungry!" the older nurse says as she puts a hand on Zakuro's abs. "You're eating for two now!"
Zakuro forces a smile as the merry group walks with her to the cafeteria.
The Mews and Knights stand watching the beast, somehow sorry for it. For the last few minutes, it had been yelling and pounding the spot where Escor disappeared. Finally, it stopped, and sat still.
Just as Ichigo was about to call out to it, it moved, smashing its arm through the side of the building. The people trapped on the second floor gasped.
"Shirogane, call Professor Boris! Tell him to send his best Koe!" Ichigo yells as she races to halt the beast. "STOP!" Ichigo calls out.
It looks at her and roars, but she doesn't back down.
The other Mews and the Knights creep forward, trying to gain the courage to join her.
The monster reaches toward one of the citizens.
Ichigo throws a ball of fire on its arm, burning it. It grabs its arm, cupping the burn and watches Ichigo as the man moves far away. For several minutes, they just stare at one another. Then, the beast roars loudly again, and leaps toward the crowd.
The Mews jump into action.
Minto, Anton, Purin, and Taruto use their angelic forms to blast part of the ceiling, causing it to fall on the beast while Retasu directed the people to safety.
The beast collapses under the weight as the people run past it. The monster starts to get up, knocking part of the ceiling on a woman and pinning her underneath, but Retasu uses her Retasu Rush to move it out the way and carries the woman to safety.
Once the people had safely made it outside, the Mews could deal with the monster. It only took it a few seconds to throw off the rubble and face them again with the full force of its anger.
It first runs toward Purin and Taruto. They try to make more of the ceiling fall on it, but miss. It comes baring down on them. They try to run, but see the shadow of its arm right above them. They brace themselves for the impact, but it never comes.
The sound of machine guns rings out. The group turns to see the military burst through the front.
The monster growls and turns to face them. It flexes its muscles and the bullets fall off of his back.
"Surrender now or we will be forced to shoot you!" a man who had emerged from the tank warns.
The monster grins and plunges toward them.
"FIRE!" the man commands as the tank shoots at the beast. The impact catches it in the gut, but does nothing more than knock the wind out of it. The beast grabs the projectile and throws it back, causing an explosion that wipes out the tank. Satisfied, it turns back to the Mews and Knights.
A voice rings out, and they look to their right to see a frail girl in a uniform with a gold emblem followed by the monster landing on the ground with a grunt. Ichigo stands above it holding two fire swords in blue. Two slashes still burn on its back.
The other Mews and Knights gather around it, baring their weapons.
"Ki...ll...me..." it pleads.
"No." Ichigo responds. "We know that's why you just went on a rampage like this, but we won't kill you."
"Why?... I'm...a... mon...ster..."
"But you were once human. And we are not the law." Minto states. "Now hold still."
"Mew Mew Purin! Me-ta-mo-ri-pho-sis!"
The voice of the girl rings out again.
"Purin ring! INFERNO!"
The Mews and Knights jump away just as the beast is locked inside the inferno.
"We did it!" She squeals, but stops when Ichigo gives her a look.
"We've failed," she says simply. "How many people do you think died because we did not respond fast enough?"
The group averts their eyes.
Ichigo puts a hand over her face. "We've been treating this like a game. Like if we just worked hard and did the best we could, we'd win." She points toward the supermarket. "That is OUR fault."
"Ichigo!" Minto yells. "You can't expect us to save the world, can you? This isn't some anime! We CAN'T save the world! We're human! We're real!"
"Then who is going to do it?" Ichigo retorts. "Do you see the military anywhere anymore? Who took down this beast? We did. Who defeated Deep Blue? We did. Don't you get it? This world has changed! The military is like swords, and these opponents are like guns. No contest."
They all pause, soaking it in.
"Listen," Ichigo starts again, interrupting the melancholy silence. "Let this be our lesson. No more complaining about practices. No more treating this like a game. That beast" she points to it, "used to be countless human souls. People. Look what they did to them. Look and feel it. Let it sink in. We are all that stands between the people and... Them. If we forget, every one of those people died in vain." She looks down. "Next time, let's truly win."
A month later
"GOT...YA!" Anton and Minto say in unison in their angelic forms, breathing heavily as they corner Retasu and prepare to strike her with light.
She waves her hands in front of her face, "I give!"
The Blue Team lower their hands.
"Four minutes!" Ichigo calls out from a room overlooking the practice gym. She races down to them and opens the door.
"Why do we have to do this?" Retasu wines, heart rate still high.
Ichigo tosses her a bottle of water. She ignores the question. "Retasu, you're holding out longer against these two. Good job." She turns to Anton and Minto. "You two, on the other hand, are getting slow." she steps back. "Come on. Take me on."
Retasu scampers out the way and into the control room above where Shirogane monitors each persons vitals.
"Good job out there." he gives her a high five.
"Why does she have us fight against two people who are in a higher form?"
"To make you stronger in your weaker form. And, to increase the efficiency of the duo," he responds, half paying attention to her and half watching the battle between the Blue Team and Ichigo.
Retasu takes a gulp of water.
"Ya know, we really are getting better." he comments. "One of these days, you should watch the first day you fought against Minto and Anton compared to today."
Down below, Anton and Minto pin Ichigo into a corner.
"Four minutes eighteen seconds!" Ryou calls in the microphone. They all wave and exit the arena. Anton and Minto head up the stairs to join them and watch their replays as Ichigo heads toward the school, beeper in hand.
On her way up, she passes Retasu and Purin.
"Ichigo! Did you pick out your swimsuit for the party tonight yet?" Purin asks.
"Ah... I'll do it before I get back..." Ichigo waves as she heads toward the door. "Got a 9-1-1 page from the lab!" She reaches toward the door, opens it, sees a figure, then jumps back. She breathes a sigh of relief when she sees the Koe from the battle with the beast.
"Um... I..." she starts. "I wanted to say thank you for letting me fight with you! It was an honor!"
Ichigo smiles politely, but takes a glance toward her car. "You didn't have to come all the way out here to tell me that. Besides, it is your voice that strengthened us. Thank you. We couldn't have done it without you."
"Actually... I … tomorrow... for the teams..."
The light turns on in Ichigo's head. "Ah. The elite teams I'm sending all around Chicago."
"Please consider me!" she blurts out.
"Of course you'll be considered. Now, I've really got to get going, but feel free to have some cake. It's in the fridge." she opens the door wide for the girl to enter and runs to her car.
Ichigo enters the lab a half hour later. There, she finds an older, plump woman peeking into her office. Ichigo furls her brows, but approaches.
"What are you doing?" she asks.
The woman points inside at a baby with pink hair and small brown horns.
"Peek-a-boo?"
"No!" the woman responds. "Don't you know what that is!"
It's a baby... "I guess I don't..." she responds, waiting for the answer, but expecting something obvious.
"A diclonius."
Ichigo stares at the woman as she peeks inside again, and ducks down.
The woman looks up at her and catches her glance. "I'm not crazy! It's dangerous!"
…
"I'm going home," Ichigo responds, ticked.
The woman runs in front of her and grabs her shoulders. "You don't understand!" She lets go and begins to pace, talking to herself.
Finally, she turns to Ichigo. "They've made it. A Lucy! This baby means there is a Lucy!"
"ACK! Come on! What the heck are you talking about! Why is there a baby in the laboratory?"Ichigo demands.
"Okay...There are some who have been born with powers and some who were given the powers of various anime, manga, comic, television, etc. characters..."
"Yes..."
"Naturals can only be born from naturals and those from cartoons and whatnot must always transform. And they can only give birth to powerless or transforming beings, even if the other parent is a natural. This child is a diclonius. The human mutation from the anime Elfen Lied."
"I get it. She's a baby. Babies don't transform. She's a natural."
"In the anime, there is a character named Lucy that has the ability to make a baby a diclonius like her. They must have made a Lucy!" the scientist begins to shake.
"You said they're dangerous. How so?" Ichigo inquires.
"They have any number of invisible arms that... well... um... I'd just watch the show if I were you..."
"I see... So, why is the child here?"
"A student found the baby a couple days ago with a note saying the child was abandoned and began raising it in her dorm room."
"Is she okay?" Ichigo panics.
The scientist starts, "Oh she's fine. She'll be in detention every day after school for the rest of the week, though. Anyway, the smell of dirty diapers became too much for her floormates, so earlier today, a couple burst in. One was an otaku and immediately recognized the child's traits and called me."
"I see..." she peeks in at the baby. "And they are all dangerous?"
"All except one," she rises, careful to keep an eye on the child. "There was one diclonius who wasn't named Nana."
"Nana..." Ichigo repeats, staring at the child.
"Oh no! You can't be-"
Ichigo turns to her, "Well, what else will we do with her? Kill her?" Ichigo makes a face when she sees the woman's expression.
"When you see what those monsters are capable of-"
Ichigo's face softens. "You could have already killed her if you wanted to. But you called me because you had doubts." She smiles.
The woman sighs. "I'm a mad scientist, remember? You always treat me like I'm better than what I am..." she looks at the floor, slightly warmed inside. Then, she freezes and turns back to Ichigo, panicking. "That atrocity is going to live here, isn't it..."
Ichigo places a hand on the glass. "Well, we can't very well let her loose among the public if she is as dangerous as you say she is. And she's been abandoned... so..."
"I'll be killed! Those creatures rip people apart!"
"Elfen Lied you said, right? I'll watch it tonight." She taps lightly on the glass. "Nana."
"Nana..." the scientist sighs. "You chose Nana..."
"She hasn't done anything wrong," Ichigo says as she heads back to her car.
"Yet," the scientist whispers under her breath.