PAINT MY GOODBYE RED
Chapter 7: Future
Alia looked back and stepped aside when she noticed all four of us walking towards the window.
I got there first, and before I could focus, Zero pushed me aside a bit so he could see. I could feel a hand gripping my shoulder, and I looked back to see X, who was trying to get between Zero and me. And then I saw Signas squatting so he could see, too. And then I heard Alia's muffled giggling.
I snorted again and looked out the window again when I heard a "What the hell…?" from Zero.
Indeed, what the hell.
There are so many reploids lining up in front of the entrance of Maverick Hunters HQ—enough to fill a small army, perhaps. They were neatly lining up, and from there I could see colours. Black, blue, red…wait, what the—Red Alert members? But how? And they're not carrying weapons. In fact, the guys in front of the lines are carrying white flags!
"What the actual fuck?" I blurted out.
"Zero! Did you curse in front of him?" X turned to Zero and yelled at him.
"Hell, no! I don't curse in front of kids!" Zero yelled back.
"More importantly, why the hell are Red Alert members lining up in front of HQ, with white flags?" I looked at the two and told them what was on my mind.
"Those are Red Alert members? But we just announced a duel yesterday. To give up this easily would be stupid of them. This must be a trap. But if it is a trap, they wouldn't expect us to fall for it. No one would be that stupid." Signas commented.
"Axl, they're not carrying bombs, aren't they?" Zero asked me.
"Nope, suicide bombing is always a last resort." I replied. "We're all curious, alright, but none of us want them to blow up HQ or something, so I'll go down there and see what's going on."
"Not alone. What if they snatch you and drag you back to Red Alert? I'm coming with you." Zero responded.
"They're carrying white flags. Maybe they want to negotiate? I'm going down there, too." X said.
"Go ahead, boys. I'll just be here with Commander Signas watching from above. If anything goes wrong, I'll call for backup. If you need it, that is." Alia chimed in as she set the monitor to show the feed from the outside camera.
X, Zero and I stepped out to the entrance of Maverick Hunters HQ to see Boarski's, Tonion's, Gungaroo's, Warfly's, Crowrang's, and Anteator's squad members. What the hell are they doing here, and why are they not with their commanding officers? And where are Stonekong's and Hyenard's guys?
"Captain Axl, Sir!"
What the hell? I've been branded a traitor. Why the hell are you guys still addressing me as Captain, and why are you still saluting me like I'm still in Red Alert? Why? What is the meaning of this?
But still, they're giving me respect. I can't look like an idiot when they're still…
Standing upright, I saluted them back, and addressed all of them. "Ladies and gentlemen. What brings all of you here? And I've already left Red Alert as a traitor. Why are you still treating me like I'm still Captain?"
One of Warfly's men, Markus, raised his hand before replying.
"Your escape from the Crimson Palace gave us all hope, Sir. You weren't the only one who noticed that Red Alert had been going downhill ever since that damn Professor arrived. Because of the Professor, what we built was slowly disintegrating before our eyes, and it was only a matter of time before we went down with it. We wanted to go, but we were too scared—Red Alert was our home. We were a close-knit family.
But then you left. You and your brothers. That was when it struck us that we've been cowards for so long. We've broken a few codes of honour—went against our rules. Red Alert just wasn't the same anymore, and right now it's truly a disgusting organization. It's not the same home we grew up in. It's gone up in flames, and we have to leave, too.
But not all of us wanted to leave. Some of us wanted to go down with it. It's their choice, so we couldn't drag them. They let us leave as well, and decided to help us keep our plans from Red and the generals. When we heard that you were with the Maverick Hunters, we figured we'd help you with your attempt to stop Red Alert before it trashes the whole city. As for us, we just want to start new lives. We may have committed crimes with Red Alert during our time there and we don't know what surrendering can do to help us, but this is our only way to show that we want to start over."
What…you guys, you guys are…all this time, we had felt the same way about this whole affair? I'm not alone. I'm not alone. I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not alone. This problem, this escape attempt, this attempt to put down Red Alert before everything turns into total shit, I thought it would be too big for me to handle…you guys have been on my side all along and you're going to help?
Ahaha…ahahahaha…
My tears blurred my sight, but I could still make out the sight of a few now-former members wiping theirs.
I don't usually cry. But this is a special occasion.
"We didn't just leave without doing anything to help, Sir!" I wiped my tears upon hearing that voice, and when I turned to the speaker, it was Tanaka, from Boarski's gang. "All of us had decided to give Red Alert's remaining resources to help all of you, and each squad has done something specific to help as well. As for my squad, we had extended the bombs' timers. We couldn't turn them off, or else Chief Boarski would have noticed and killed us all. As you have noticed, the Professor's meddling made him a monster. Please put him out of his misery, Sir!" Tanaka bowed down upon finishing his speech.
"We depowered the mechaniloid assigned for Tonion's use. Strangely, when he noticed us, he just told us to carry on…so we did, and he even saw us off! He never told us anything about why he's behaving this way, though. If you can ask him to tell you what's going on, please pass it on to us!" June, one of Tonion's "little juniors", spoke up.
"We rigged everything assigned for Captain Warfly, Sir!" Markus loudly hollered, saluting me again. "He wouldn't know what hit him! And even if he does, he would let you see the full spectacular, anyways!" Roaring laughter from the rest of Warfly's former squad members followed, some of them high-fiving each other. This squad never ceases to amuse me. Warfly may be a douchebag, but damn if his squad members don't make good drinking buddies.
"We rigged the Ride Armours Captain Gungaroo had decided to provide for you to make it more powerful. Captain Gungaroo also knows that something's wrong with Red Alert, but he decided to stay in his position just for the duel. We have faith that you will honour his wish, Captain!" Kim, a member of Gungaroo's squad, spoke up.
It appears that even now, Gungaroo still held the promise we made to each other to heart. I don't blame him. I just wish I could've told him before I left that yes, I remember, too, and I still intend to keep it. I'm just glad I have the chance to keep it. I hope he's still himself by the time I get there. He'll be mad at me, but maybe not. He understands.
"We cut Professor Anteator's Cyber Field into a much shorter and straightforward maze, Sir!" It was Rin's turn to speak, as a member of Anteator's trainee programmers.
"Master Crowrang had opened a path for you to come to him, and all of us had helped him. As for us, we are simply part of the group who wanted to leave. The rest who wanted to go down with him will stay there as your bridge." Yamaguchi, one of Crowrang's men, informed us.
We're all in this together, aren't we? Even the Generals…well, some of them, that is. Speaking of people who aren't there…
"What about Hyenard's and Stonekong's guys?" I asked.
"Hyenard's gang stayed there to protect the lava factory workers they had evacuated, as well as stay there to constantly assure Hyenard that they're…working on exploding the factory. He wanted to kill himself, that's why he placed all those bombs there…" Rin revealed the truth to us, holding back her tears. "Please help him! He's suffering…"
Goddammit, Hyenard. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for not putting you down the last time I saw you. I'm sorry for letting you suffer. Don't worry, you're the first one we're putting down, just hold out a little longer…
"I assure you, we had planned to put him down before everyone else." I replied, and the other former members started heaving sighs of relief, some of them hugging each other.
"As for Stonekong's group, Sir…they gave us this." Yamaguchi spoke to me, and handed me a letter. "Please read it aloud so that the Maverick Hunters, too, can hear what they had to say."
I cleared my throat and started reading it.
"We decided to tell General Stonekong our plan—we can't bear to hide anything from him, he is our father more than anyone else. He said he approved of our plan, but he wanted to go down with Red Alert and "die like an old soldier", and told us to live an honest life without him.
We begged him to come with us, but he refused, and we had to accept it. He's not even creating much trouble, so there really is nothing much for us to do but assure you that everything will be OK. As for us, we're going to stay here and look after this forest. Good luck, Captain Axl."
Goddammit, Stonekong, goddammit…why? You don't have to die, but then again, it's probably what you want, isn't it? I can't stop you. I can never figure you out 100%, but damn if you're not one of the kindest people I've ever known.
"Damn it, Stonekong…" I muttered under my breath. Inhaling for another speech, I swallowed.
"I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for committing acts of bravery for Red Alert. Even though we're not officially part of the group anymore, we have given our hearts and ourselves together for our family. Good things have to come to an end sooner or later, and now you can rest easy knowing that you have done your part. As for me, I will do my best to do mine and make sure this whole storm ends as swiftly and as cleanly as possible. All of you are dismissed, forever! Fare well, my brothers and sisters!"
I saluted to them again after I ended my speech, and they saluted back. And then, we heard static and crackling sounds.
"Greetings, former members of Red Alert. I am the commander of the Maverick Hunters, Signas. As you spoke of what you have done to assist our attempt to put down Red Alert, we have verified that you have spoken the truth. In order to honour your bravery and moral acts, the Maverick Hunters are not going to retire you. We will make sure that your deeds are noted and considered. I repeat; all of you may live.
Our mission to retire Splash Warfly will begin soon. While our hunters and your former captain do the job, we will process your individual cases and make decisions accordingly. The gates to your new lives are open. You may enter."
As soon as Signas stopped speaking from the intercom, we heard the entrance to HQ open, and we cheered loudly. I jumped up, because who wouldn't be happy in this situation? Everyone who had wanted to live and tried their darnedest to make amends get to live and redeem themselves, like a dream come true. And I had inspired them to do this.
"I'm so happy, Zero…they don't have to die…" I could hear X's sobbing, muffled because he was squeezing Zero like no tomorrow.
X, too, huh? I guess he's still as compassionate as he used to be. Or did he descend all the way down to hell because he's compassionate?
I'll think about it later.
Stepping aside to make way for fellow former Red Alert members, I grinned as I watched them happily marching into HQ.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, I know this new chapter is going to be feelsy, but not this feelsy. I got nostalgic flashbacks, and I'm really proud of how I showed a bit of Axl's background in this chapter. I kind of combined one-and-a-half chapters into one and expanded them. The resulting chapter ended up huge, but I still like it.