Chapter 12—

Fire and rubble replaced the once innocent and lighthearted atmosphere of N's room. Everything, from his toys, to his bed, and to his beloved structures—all of them were either disintegrated or ablaze with fire.

Whi-Two couldn't keep herself from trembling.

Just a few minutes ago, she thought. Just a few minutes ago, everything was still as I remembered it…

Lack-Two was still the enemy. N was still her ally. Everything was still in place.

She still knew what was going on…

The girl shakes her head to snap out of it.

No. This isn't the time for that.

She needed to contain the damage if she wants to get out alive enough to think things through. Right now, what she needs is to focus and work with whoever makes more sense to her.

And as much as she hates to admit it, Lack-Two is the only one she actually finds herself not dying with.

"Lack-Two!" she calls to him. The boy turns to her for a moment, but brings his attention back to the machine again as he flips back to dodge yet another attack. He lands on one of the piles of stuffed animals—one of the very few that have not yet caught itself on fire.

"Why is this room filled with so much toys?!" he cries, picking one up and throwing it at the machine's "eye" in frustration.

The machine is barely scathed. It turns to him and lets out another onslaught of bullets. Lack-Two rolls away just in time.

"Lack-Two!" Whi-Two cries again.

"What?!" he screams back, pushing himself up to run away from the machine.

"Don't let yourself get hit!"

"I'M FUCKING TRYING!" He pulls out one of his grenades, bites off the cap, and throws it at the machine. The small grenade, instead of exploding, releases an excessive amount of smoke. Lack-Two takes that moment of concealment to navigate his way back to Whi-Two. He grabs the girl by the wrist and leads her to one of the corners.

The door to N's room was already gone by now. Their battlefield has gotten wider, and the chances for Lack-Two and Whi-Two receiving back up was now bigger, but only a little.

Lack-Two's Tracker was still malfunctioning.

"Darn it…" he hisses, watching the machine's movement through the reflection of the shard of glass he held. "At this rate, we won't get anywhere…" He faces Whi-Two.

"Our only chance is lure that thing farther until we reach the 'safe zone'.

Whi-Two pants as she watches Lack-Two speak, only half-listening. Something was odd. The machine didn't chase after her, when it should have. Surely, N and the rest of Team Plasma's engineers had the sufficient technology to program a certain weapon to discern enemies from allies, and as far as N's knowledge of the situation is concerned, she is an enemy.

The girl looks down and thinks for a moment.

It was either the machine still recognizes her as a member of Team Plasma, or…

Whi-Two immediately lowers herself and grabs Lack-Two's waist. The boy cries in defiance.

"What the hell!"

"Quiet!" Whi-Two searches through Lack-Two's legs first and then up to his torso with her hands. Then, she falls back and ponders for a moment.

"No tracker to speak of…" she mutters. "Then…"

She looks at Lack-Two.

"Take off your jacket," she commands him.

Lack-Two only stares at her with disbelief.

The Interpol's jacket acts as the agents' protective armor from most weapons and attacks. He couldn't just take it off. Especially now.

"Listen," she tells him, recognizing the doubt in his eyes. "That machine is after you and is intent in destroying you because it recognizes you as one of the Interpol. This machine is programmed to recognize an Interpol agent when it sees one, and its indicator is the Interpol's equipment. And that includes your jacket…"

She feels the machine move. They watch it travel around, in search for something.

"Look," she whispers, pointing at the jacket she had discarded from a while ago. The machine points its 'eye' at it.

"Interpol agent identified," it says. "Prepare for annihilation."

And the machine sends out a beam towards the discarded jacket. Immediately, the piece of clothing, together with anything within a 10-meter radius distance from it, bursts into flames.

Whi-Two returns her gaze back to Lack-Two.

"Take off your jacket and we can leave this place alive…"

Lack-Two stares at her for a moment, pondering, and then returns his gaze to the machine. This can't be something that's too invincible for them—it must have a weakness. His eyes fall down on his jacket for a moment—quick enough for Whi-Two to not notice—before returning it to the enemy.

It has begun moving.

Comes after Interpol equipment, huh…? Once again, Lack-Two is faced in another situation where Interpol and its system has been dealt useless… or is it?

The boy feels a certain feeling of wetness fall on his forehead. His hand flies to his brow as he looks up, and sees a few cracks at the ceiling where water was seeping through.

He suddenly remembers the kind of room just above them.

"No," he finally says, shaking away Whi-Two's hand. "I have a better plan."

"What?!"

Lack-Two peers from behind the wall they have hidden themselves behind, and waits for the machine to move again.

"I'm going to distract that thing and make it move around," he declares. Then he looks at Whi-Two.

"While I'm doing that, I want you to set up all the traps you can find and do your best to direct them to the machine."

"B-But… The traps here won't stand that much against that monster!"

"I know!" Lack-Two barks back. Then he bites his lips. "I just need to weaken it down or at least keep it moving to the direction I want it to…"

"Why? What are you planning?"

Lack-Two simply bites his lips, making Whi-Two groan.

He's still not telling her anything.

"Lack-Two, this isn't time for one of your stupid, hare-brained ideas! This is…"

"You followed me blindly up until this point," Lack-Two points out, not taking his eyes off of her. "Can't you hold out until the very end?"

Whi-Two stares him up, her eyebrows converging in annoyance. But still, she concedes.

"Don't you dare die without giving me the chance to kill you first," she warns before running the other way. Lack-Two watches her run for a moment before looking back at the machine.

He better play his cards right if he was going to keep that.

With one last deep breath, he runs towards the machine, another smoke grenade on hand.

Whi-Two makes her way through the rubbles and debris that was once N's front wall and easily finds the nearest inactivated trap, just below one of the marble columns. She bends, knocks on its base, hears the metal sound it makes, and smiles. She searches through her utility belt and pulls out her Swiss knife, unscrews the camouflaged bolts, and pulls out the base's front surface.

Multi-colored wires and blinking buttons were crammed within it. Whi-Two wastes no time and starts rewiring and pressing buttons. After just a few movements, she returns the cover, screws the bolts back, wipes the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, and starts for the other control boxes.

Different control boxes that are hidden inconspicuously in different places control all traps within this castle, and Whi-Two knew each and every one of their locations, and how to make them work according to her preferences.

The perks of being one of the castle's caretakers involve being well versed with its every part and features.

She was about to reach the fourth control box when she realizes that it was already opened and have been tampered with. The girl tries to make sense with the manner of rewiring and finds that she couldn't understand it. It still works—all the status blinkers were all still green, which means there were no errors to speak off—but the way the wires are connected and the combination of switch statuses are unfamiliar to her. And for someone who's been tampering with these kinds of devices since childhood, being unfamiliar with anything is unheard of.

"Who did this…?" she mutters as she tries to carefully unplug one red wire. Three of the blinkers began flashing red, and she had no choice but to quickly return it.

Had she allowed herself to risk it, something about the castle would have gone horribly wrong.

Whi-Two bites her lips as she hovers her hand with the switches, trying to understand the combinations.

But nothing. Still nothing.

Feeling like taking chances with something different, she reaches for her belt bag and pulls out her Tracker, hoping to try and crack the box through Interpol technology, but before she could attach her cable, a voice stops her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, lest you'd only accidentally send crucial signals to the wrong devices…"

Whi-Two immediately turns and finds a tall figure lurking by the empty hallways. She tries to make up a face, internally hoping it was one of the Interpol members, but she immediately realizes that can't be.

She was still within the 'Untraceable Zones'…

And, that voice was too familiar to be an Interpol agent. She actually had to internally slap herself for not identifying it earlier.

N gives her a rueful look as he stops midway, leaving a rather large space between him and a horror-stricken Whi-Two.

"Lord N…"

The green-haired man looks at her, his frown getting more pronounced.

"Mei," he says in a very soft voice. A gentle voice.

The voice of the Lord N she has fallen in love with from before.

Instead of feeling calm because of the familiarity, Whi-Two only trembles harder. She actually steps back, clutching the small device to her chest.

"You're not hurt, are you?" he asks, taking a step forward. "I wouldn't forgive myself if you really were hurt after what I just did. I profusely apologize for it, Mei."

"What…?" she gasps softly. Her right arm slowly lowers itself to her belt bag, trying to grab a smoke grenade. N's eyes were full of hurt.

"Do you really intend to hurt me with those ghastly weapons, Mei? Is this what they have turned you into?"

Whi-Two didn't speak, although the look in her eyes were enough to tell N that she was dubious. But, of course.

Who in the right mind would listen to the one who just desecrated them, ridiculed them, and even tried to kill them? His Mei was no fool.

Plasma raised her to be cautious. Like the other grunts. Like him.

"Mei, please hear me out," he says, finally giving up on trying to approach her as he's realized that one more step forward, and his Mei might finally turn and run away to goodness-knows-where.

And where they are at that very moment is a lot safer than any other portion of this castle.

The cleansing has begun, and he can't let his Mei get involved.

"Mei," he says again, softer. "You know that I only did that for the sake of our purpose… These people who have trespassed this chamber must be eliminated, and that includes that boy…" He makes a sideward glance, and Whi-Two, in the silence of the hallway and of her empty mind, could hear Lack-Two's cries of pain as he tries his best to lure the death machine through the hallways to where she and N is currently standing.

N returns his gaze to her, and tries to smile.

"You know I never intended to hurt you, Mei…"

Whi-Two is still unconvinced. She finally reaches for one of her grenades, grabs it, and tries to swing her arm back to throw it, but N was quicker:

He immediately runs to her and encloses her in an embrace. Whi-Two's arm stays in midair, the grenade still on hand. Her face freezes as N squeezes her tighter, his warm breath hitting her neck.

"No, Mei, don't do this," N pleads. "I won't force you to come back to me—I know the extent of the damage I may have caused you… I can take at least that part. But don't do this… Don't become like him. Like us. Don't succumb to the dark soul of a Spade. I've fought long and hard just so you'd never experience what I'm experiencing right now. Can't you see it in my eyes?" He lets her go and holds both her shoulders, making her look into his grey eyes. And Whi-Two did.

She could see how broken they were. How devoid of any form of warmth. How abandoned. How… How…

How very much like Lack-Two's.

Whi-Two felt a lump on her throat.

A spade…

"The life of a Spade is never an easy one, Mei," N continues. "You will fall into the crevice of despair and have no choice but to stay there. You will be filled with hatred, and nothing else. No warmth. No color. No love." He chokes as he tries to blink away his tears.

"Do you honestly want that, Mei…?"

Whi-Two's eyes were getting blurry, and as she tries to blink away the blurriness, she could feel the warm tears crawling down her cheeks, falling down to N's hand.

No. No, she doesn't. She never did. It was the very reason why she stayed attached to him even after he was gone. Even after everyone believed that he was dead.

Because it was N that made her feel as warm as she had for so many years.

But why is it that now that he had finally returned and is now holding her the way he did before, she hasn't reverted to her old self? Something has changed, and this time, it seems that this change happened way before Lack-Two had held his hand out for her to join his side. As a matter of fact, now that N is now in front of her, she feels like the change happened way before she even knew of Lack-Two's existence.

And all this time, she was just lying to herself.

But Lord N… This Lord N is real, right? Her eyes quiver as she looks up to her once beloved Lord N, and could feel nothing but an unidentifiable swirl of different emotions waging war with what she thinks she should feel. The chaos goes on and on, causing immense pain on her chest, making her want to hurl. The only thing stopping her is the current circumstance.

Like always, the only one stopping her from stooping down and letting herself succumb to her own misery was no one else but her beloved Lord N.

But…

There was a crashing round, and Lack-Two emerges from what now seems like ruins of N's room. He lands on the ground and turns to the direction of where he had come from. The machine follows momentarily, efficiently maneuvering itself through the rubbles and debris, all the way to where Lack-Two was. Its red eye scans around and glows again as it recognizes the Interpol Officer.

"Interpol Officer identified. Prepare for annihilation."

Whi-Two watches as Lack-Two struggles to push himself back to his feet. He wipes away the blood from his lower lip, and looks up at the machine. Then he notices Whi-Two from his peripheral vision, and as he turns to her, he also finds another figure, and quickly makes sense of the situation.

The face Whi-Two was making proved enough as an explanation. Lack-Two inwardly curses as he dodges another attack, jumping to the side while throwing another of his bombs towards the machine despite knowing that his attacks barely scathe the enemy.

"Mei."

Whi-Two's eyes return to N's concerned gaze, and the confusing feelings return. N has already pulled his hands away from her shoulders, and her arm, which she had intended to use to throw her smoke grenade, have now lowered itself back to her side.

But aside from the trembling of her whole body, she remains frozen.

Whi-Two knew that she needs to help Lack-Two—not even a skilled officer like him can take that weapon on his own. He's close to breaking, she can tell. But if she does, she'll only have to leave N again.

And isn't the point of all this—of all these shits that Whi-Two had allowed herself to go through—is to be with N again? To see him, all while getting rid of the nuisance to her life that is Lack-Two?

Why is the choice suddenly seem so difficult?

"Mei… Save yourself."

"Whi-Two! Start off the first traps! Now!"

"Mei… He already tricked you once right? He used you… Now, do you intend to help him again?"

"Whi-Two! Quick! Before this thing gets through!"

"Mei, believe me… You're better off on another path… Not this. Never this…"

"Whi-Two! Now!"

"Mei…"

"Whi-Two!"

The girl suddenly screams an agonized scream. It freezes N for a moment, hindering him from stopping Whi-Two from raising her hand up, and using the momentum to drop the smoke grenade to the ground.

With an earsplitting sound, the grenade opens up, covering the whole vicinity with white smoke.

-End of Chapter 12-

A/N: I'm trying to give N another kind of dimension in his personality, but IDK, I feel like I'm going all over the place because of this. *sighs* I apologize for the weird execution. Ideas keep on hitting me in the middle of writing. But I promise, I'm going somewhere. I swear to god.