Chapter 14: That Man III: Heavy Day

"Now, where do I begin? Ah, the tail end of the 20th century should suffice. You see, to understand my story, you must know the state of our world before the existence of Gears. If I recall, it was 1999 when the world as we knew it was forever changed by the incursion of an abnormality from another world. It tried to enter our world through the electronic devices that mankind had become so accustomed to using."

"The government, so frightened by these beings incredible power, did the unthinkable and launched an EMP upon the world to prevent this creature from ever existing. To this day, not even I can explain just what this creature was, I can only offer a few theories. Nevertheless, through it's attempted birth, it had seemingly doomed humanity to fall into chaos. After all, technology had been placed at the forefront of our ability to survive."

"Had it not been for a group of mages known as the Apostles, human society would've completely collapsed. Because of them, humanity was able to survive by using magic to replace the lost technology. Society went through a grand upheaval, it's structure and the way it was governed had to adapt to this strange and fantastic power."

"It took eleven years for pure technology to fade out and be replaced with magitek, and magic itself became a new field of science to be studied. And in this short-lived period of peace, three extraordinarily gifted souls would come to learn together in this strange and wonderful field, and irreversibly change this world of ours yet again."

"There was Frederick, or as you know him now as Sol Badguy. Back then…well, needless to say his attitude was no different than how you know him today. He hid his brains behind a rough and reclusive demeanor, and because of that he only shared his brilliant theories with myself and one other."

"That other person, who was truly the one holding our little group together, was the thoughtful and delicate Aria. Rarely did I ever see her cry or frown, and her love of life itself was beyond anything I had ever seen. Her imagination was perfect for the type of world we were in, and she was the only person who could get Frederick to open up…In fact, you could say the two of them were in love."

For a moment, Asuka closed his eyes and seemed to be in delving into solemn thoughts. Alex, patiently folding his arms against his chest, inquired "Hey, is something up?" Asuka put on his simplest smile and shook his head before replying to him "Answer me this, Alex Whiter…Do you ever forget the disasters that have occurred in your life?"

Alex paused, turning his head away and murmuring "I don't think that's possible." Asuka replied "That in itself is both a curse…and a blessing. Humanity can only change if they learn from their mistakes. You and I, even with powers beyond our original humanity, are no different." The man then focused on the boy's irked expression and told him calmly "Let us continue now…"

"When we weren't working in the lab, the three of us spent our time talking about the simplest things. Aria was always the one sparking inspiration in our conversations, and there was always a child-like innocence to her topics. I personally recall a time she talked about a dream where she was a bird flying high in the sky, and that got us to talk about the view of the world through a human's eyes in comparison to an animals'."

"Now that I think about it, you don't know what Aria looked like, do you?" Asuka suddenly paused, and Alex remarked brazenly "Some of the Valentines are based off her, right? So I've just been imagining a red-pink haired woman with bright green eyes and a decent figure." Asuka smiled and replied with a tinge of nostalgic melancholy "Your observation is surprisingly accurate. Yes…Aria was as beautiful as a rose, and in many ways just as delicate as one."

"Do you know why the Gears were originally created? You may be surprised to know that they were never made to be weapons of war. In fact, the entities known as 'Gears' didn't even exist in the conceptual phase of our project. At first, the three of us had only created Gear cells for the purpose of helping human evolution. In the development phase alone, Gear cells could eliminate the ability for a body to become ill."

"Of course, at the time, we were worried about the Gear cells being used for military purposes. After all, if a body could not be worn down by illnesses or fatigue, does that not mean these cells would be best suited for soldiers? I considered all possibilities as I submitted the research of the Gear cells, with Frederick and Aria's permission of course, to the state governments. Under four conditions designed to secure the peace and safety of the people involved, we reached an agreement to further the research on Gear cells in 2015."

"I was actually surprised that things went off without a hitch. You see, my intentions in creating the Gear cells alongside Frederick and Aria were not at first to revolutionize the medical industry. No, rather it was to save a dear friend."

"You will recall the comparison of frailty I made with Aria just moments ago. It was not because her body was small, nor was it due to her being weak of spirit or mind, clearly…"

"…She was sick. At some point in her life, Aria had contracted a TP infection. She would not even live to see her thirties at the rate it was developing inside of her. For a long time, she only confided this truth with me, as she was scared of Frederick secluding himself away to try and discover a cure should she tell him. I understood the sentiment…it was just like her to think that way. Nevertheless, Frederick did discover the truth on his own."

"He was frustrated, naturally, but in the face of her possible demise his compassion came through more than anything else. He wanted to save her with every fiber of his being, and he practically begged Aria to go into cryosleep until a cure to her condition could be discovered. She refused, as she did not wish to be alone upon waking up. She likened loneliness to death itself. It was the one time I ever saw Aria be selfish. Yet, is it truly wrong, just once, for a human to be selfish?"

Alex closed his eyes a little and reflected on those words that he had just recently heard. Asuka looked at him and inquired "Is something the matter?" The boy, with heart clenching against his chest like he couldn't believe, coyly replied "…M-Maybe I'm more like Sol than I thought…"

Asuka lowered his head and smiled, telling him kindly "And I believe there is nothing wrong with realizing that, young Overlord." The boy went silent and let the man continue with his tale.

"Frederick continued to beg to Aria for her to listen to reason and let him help. He could not imagine a world where she did not exist, and refused to let anything stop him from saving her. I remember that conversation vividly…Aria then told Frederick that she had no family, and the only reason she was so smart is that she studied her hardest so as to not be left behind even if she did not enjoy what she was doing."

"But she found the world cold and unwelcoming that way. She wanted to change, and in doing so managed to become friends with Frederick and I. We were her very first friends, if you can believe that. And in time, she also discovered love…"

"After their heated conversation Aria did, however, agree to enter cryosleep. Frederick promised to find a way to extend his life so he could be there for her when she got out, and as such ended up volunteering as the prototype for Gear conversion. That is where the newest tragedy of the world began."

"Something went horribly wrong with the conversion, and Frederick went berserk within the laboratory. It was an unprecedented disaster, and the government was forced to take control of the Gear project away from us. Regrets filling my mind, I disappeared from the world until I could find a way to amend these mistakes. That was when the identity of 'That Man' was born. I would work in secret for over fifty years, while my old friend Frederick gained control of himself just enough to inhibit his Gear powers and adopt the name 'Sol Badguy'."

"In those years…Aria died. Her disease took her life even while in cryosleep. Frederick, I imagine, never discovered this as I had. But I refused to let that be the end of Aria's existence. Her body still remained intact, and my knowledge of the Gear cells had grown in those years. Managing to sneak my way back into society, I was able to start another Gear project under the basis of creating the Perfect Gear. Using DNA cultivated from Aria's body, I worked to create a clone that retained everything. Her memories, her love of life…everything. That clone would eventually come to be known and feared as Justice, the God of Destruction."

"Right, you're the Gear Maker, the one everyone holds responsible for the Crusades." Alex said so matter-of-factly. Asuka frowned and glanced aside, mentioning "They have every right to blame me. Such innocent intentions spiraled out of my control so quickly, it's any wonder I can comprehend it all to this day, even a century later."

"The tests for Justice ran smoothly at first. It was just like with Frederick, yet the process I implemented this time prevented her from going berserk as he did…Of course, you probably heard how it happened from Frederick by now. Justice went out-of-control and obliterated Japan, then initiated the Crusades against humanity."

"That's not the full story. In truth, what occurred were a series of misfortunate circumstances began by our true enemy in all this, the Universal Will. An entity from the Backyard, the Universal Will attempted to enter our world through Justice. I theorize that this same entity was responsible for the fall of technology all those years ago. Regardless, the Universal Will tried to gain control of Justice, and our efforts to stop it were in vain. I tried to terminate the project and bring Justice back, but the Universal Will was too powerful."

"…You see, the Backyard contains an abundance of information. Any normal person who'd come in contact with that place would be overwhelmed by the information influx and die. The Universal Will, in breaching our world, would bring that information influx to the entire planet, effectively wiping out humanity. The first stage of it's plan was to take Justice…No, Aria's DNA, and infect the entire island of Japan with Gear cells. By filling the Japanese with information afterwards, they began to transform into Anti-Matter Gears, living bombs of information whose mere existence started to drag the Backyard into reality."

"…Aria's body and mind were being torn to pieces as doomsday edged ever closer. I had promised Aria that she would see Frederick again one day. If her wish was to live, if Frederick's wish was to save her…My wish was for them to one day be together again. I panicked, I let my fear and anger take control of me for the first time. I activated Justice's gamma ray against Aria's will…and annihilated Japan."

Asuka paused for a moment and glanced aside. He didn't say anything as a single tear trickled down his cheek. Alex stood there and watched, unable to say anything himself. He was observing the strength of a man revealing his deepest regrets.

"The last time I heard Aria as herself…Those are screams of pain I will never forget. When Japan was destroyed, I had stopped the Universal Will for just that moment, but killed Aria again. With their mind fractured by the Universal Will, Justice believed that Gears were seen as nothing more than weapons to be used by humanity and began to loathe the race for their existence. Thus began the horrific Crusades, the most devastating moment in human history."

"After that, I discarded my presence from the world. Not that history would forget the man responsible, they would only forget his true name. Those who survived the horrors of the Crusades rewrote the truth to disguise an even greater threat than Justice ever could've been. After all, with Justice's death, humanity had earned it's peace, yes? No…the Universal Will is still out there, and with it's previous plans thwarted it has chosen a more direct approach to attack our world."

"The Valentines." Alex replied bluntly. Asuka nodded his head and gestured a hand out as he mentioned "The Universal Will did not return to the Backyard empty handed. As it had acquired Aria's DNA, it had a means of creating puppets to do it's bidding. Every Valentine has a bit of Aria's DNA inside of it, but some are better copies than others."

"Like Elphelt and the original Valentine." Alex said in turn. Asuka once more nodded and continued "Nevertheless, the Universal Will is not our current problem. As you know, the Conclave intend to resurrect Justice and use her hollow form as a weapon. I have been asked by Dr. Paradigm to assist in dealing with the Cradle before Justice can be revived."

"And of course, nobody knows you're involved besides me and him." Alex remarked, and as he rubbed the side of his head he cracked a little grin and mentioned "Man, Sol's going to flip his shit when he finds that out."

"You don't intend to tell him, do you?" Asuka asked with a sly smile on his face. Alex gestured out and said in a humored tone "No, I don't think that's a good idea." Then, after a slight pause, the boy stood upright and folded his arms, telling Asuka firmly "I get why you told me that story and all, but I still feel like you left a few details out."

Asuka couldn't help but affirm that with a chuckle, but Alex merely sighed and told him "Whatever, I'll trust you for now, ok? That whole story of yours isn't something you'd just tell any person." Asuka responded "Thank you. Now, there's one thing I'd like to ask you, Alex Whiter."

Alex, with a groan out of impatience for long it was taking to get to what he wanted to hear, muttered "What now?" Asuka relayed his question in a curious tone "If the world you knew were to end tomorrow, what would you do today?"

"Huh? What kind of stupid question is that? I would save the world or die trying. Isn't that what anyone would do?" Alex aloofly flipped his hand out beside his chin and gave Asuka a puzzled glare. The man closed his eyes and said "You'd be surprised how few would say that. Nevertheless, it's an answer I can admire."

Opening his eyes, Asuka looked at Alex and told him "I owe you whatever information I can give regarding that being that came in contact with me." Alex clapped his hands and said "Finally, geez!" but then after a short pause he grimaced and realized that for all his impatience on the matter he didn't even know where to begin.

Snapping his fingers a couple times in rhythm while coordinated his thoughts, Alex eventually did a firmer snap directly before his chest and said "Oh yeah, how about you tell me what this person looked like?" Asuka widened his eyes a bit and remarked "You believe their appearance will help you determine their identity? …Well, as wise a move as that is, I'm afraid there is little I can tell you regarding that."

"What? Why?!" Alex exclaimed. Asuka replied with a simple gesture out "Their form was not one I could comprehend. Their identity was hidden within a blur of information. The only two things I could discern was a parasol they carried and that they entered and exited through a small black portal."

"A…parsol?" Alex for a moment thought Asuka was jesting, but the man replied "It was a curious tool to carry around, certainly, but I could tell it had to have been of great importance to them."

Alex swerved his body a little and remarked "So you couldn't even figure out their gender? How did they speak?" Asuka replied with some more certainty than before "They were very formal, yet there was something cold and detached in how they addressed me. It was a bizarre manner of speaking, yet I could not deny they were intelligent…"

"I don't think you're stupid. For that being to make you doubt me, they had to have been pretty intelligent themselves. But just what the hell did they even say in the first place?" After Alex's blunt inquiry, Asuka told him "I can't recall the entire thing, but I should be able to give you the important details."

"The being told me that there are three Elemental Overlords in the universe-"

"T-Three…? …Wait a second, that person probably counted that evil clone of mine." Alex shook his head and continued listening.

"-and that each Overlord has their own title. There is the Phoenix of Rejuvenation, the Phoenix of Balance, and the Phoenix of Destruction. Each has their own role to fulfill in the order of the universe. The being told me only about you, however."

"Geez, I don't even know what I did to deserve such a flattering title." Alex rolled his eyes at the statement and then let out a scoff, then Asuka mentioned to him "According to them, you are destined to bring ruin to the universe. Countless worlds are to be burned in your wake."

Alex grit his teeth and exclaimed "To hell with that!" He slammed an open hand against his chest and continued his rage "I'm the Elemental Overlord! I'm the good guy! That world destroying MO belongs to the fucking Dark King!"

Asuka looked at him with a tint of surprise on his face before mentioning "Your power is great, and more than likely you could burn the world to nothing if you wanted. But despite your rough exterior, I believe in the kindness you carry inside of you, Alex Whiter. You have no reason to listen to their accusations."

Alex calmed down just a bit and pulled back, gripping his hand against his shirt and muttering "Like that makes any difference. I've been referred to by that crappy title even before that being showed up. Some higher power clearly has it out for me."

"…I have no clue. Regardless, there is more to the conversation. They wanted to give me the artifact piece and use it's power to defeat you. When I refused, they chose to give it to the Conclave."

"Why did you refuse?" Alex inquired. Asuka said "I could sense something within the stone. A temptation stronger than anything I ever felt…If I had taken that stone, I imagine I would've been put under the thrall of that being's power."

"So anyone who has the artifact piece is put under a sort-of mind control?" Alex thought on that for a little and then remarked "That's actually pretty important. I kinda thought about that the last time I saw someone in possession of the artifact, but it's nice to have someone back me up."

"I'm actually curious about something. Do you not have a couple of those stones yourself?" Asuka inquired with a surprising degree of curiosity. Alex replied "Yeah? But those are Aurian artifacts. I guess whatever booby-traps are on them are disabled when Shina gets a hold of them."

"Then our path is clear. The Conclave is currently in possession of the artifact, so what you need to do is have your friend take the stone from the Cradle when Sol and I manage to deal with Absolute Defense: Fellion. That can prevent a greater disaster from unfolding."

Alex raised his right hand up and lit it on fire, remarking to Asuka "If all else fails, I'll beat the shit out of Justice and grab the stone from it's corpse." The man closed his eyes a bit and told him "Don't underestimate their power."

"Don't underestimate MINE." Alex firmly replied before clenching his hand to dispel the flames. He then swung his arm out while Asuka told him "I'm not referring to Justice. Be wary of the being responsible for all this. They have knowledge of this world, they are able to traverse the dimensions, and they appear capable of giving power to others."

Alex glared a little at him and replied "I've killed the Dark King. Whoever this bastard is, they can hide behind their schemes all they want, but one day I'll find them…and kill them." He had no clue of how grim his expression looked when he said all that. Even so, Asuka responded to him calmly "Do not let those flames of vengeance consume you like they did Sol."

The boy widened his glare for a few seconds but then slowly calmed down. With a gruff sigh he kicked a foot forward and mentioned "I'll worry about the problem at hand for now. But is that everything you have to tell about the being?"

Asuka lowered his head and remarked "That is everything I have to say. I will now transport you back to Zepp. Just be sure not to tell Frederick or anyone else about this conversation." As Asuka put his hands up to cast magic on him, Alex held a hand out and said "Maybe I'll tell Shina in private, but otherwise-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before he was whisked away through a black magic portal that was quickly sealed up.

By himself, Asuka hung his head and begun to put his hood back on, cloaking his identity in shadows. Behind him a black slit opened in the realm, with widened into an oval as a disturbingly pixilated 'thing' floated into the area. Asuka turned around and face the being, remarking to them "So, you were watching the whole time."

"I aM alwaYs watChINg…AsUKa."

"Tsk…Then you know what stance I have taken on your little affair." Asuka remarked roughly. The being replied coarsely "It sHaLL suFfice" and then from their form emerged a small sphere made of blue, glowing specks. Asuka held his hand out, and that warm sphere floated over to him. Looking at it for just a bit, his thoughts were interrupted when the being remarked "HoW wElL you deCeiVeD the deSTroyer…I Am aLMosT imPResseD."

"…." Asuka was without words, and the being continued "To cLAim yOu waNtEd to BriNg them toGETher agAIn…YeT you hIDe jEAloUsY in yOUr heARt."

"A monster such as you, who would steal Aria's soul and use it as a bargaining chip, does not get to preach about such things as manners of the heart." Asuka then placed the inside of his cloak, while the being edged closer and remarked in a harsher tone "dO noT thiNK you get to tAKE such a HAugHTy stANCe, Asuka R. Kreitz. I CarE naUghT for yOUr peRCepTIOns. AnY who HoLd even an Inch of fool hearty REverEnCE to that WICked PhoeNIX…I HAve no QUalMs with BREaking their FRAgile woRLds if IT means BREAKING him eVEn further."

"Then you are no better than your perception of him. You shall be brought to justice one day." Asuka bravely spoke out, but the being had a dainty laugh before saying "'Justice'…? HolDINg ME to sUch a quAInt and…human coNCEPt…How humorous…" Then they slipped slowly back into their void to never again meet with the Gear Maker.

Back in Zepp, Alex was sent out of the portal close to Ky's ship. He caught the shift in environments and stopped talking on the spot, followed by him looking around and mentioning "Huh, accurate transportation…Wasn't expecting that."

Looking directly at the ship, Alex rubbed the back of his head and murmured "Guess I'll see who's in it…" He went to the stairs and entered the ship, feeling around for any faint energy signatures. Ramlethal was still in the interrogation room, and Elphelt and Sin seemed to be in the kitchen. That left Shina, who Alex didn't have to sense because he saw her lying on the couch with legs kicked up on the arm and hands folded atop her stomach. She was deep in thought until she saw him enter, at which point she lifted her head up a little, waved a hand, and said calmly "Oh hey, you're back…"

Alex walked into the living room and remarked "I took a bit of a stroll. Zepp's the only place on this damn planet that reminds me of home." He then looked right at her and asked "Did you seriously stay here all night?"

Shina laid her head back and remarked aloofly "Oh sure. Sin and I had a little uhhh…fun with Ram." The boy put his hands in his pockets and let out a sigh. He could tell Shina was trying to avoid any conversation with him. Thus he stated simply "Well look, tomorrow we're going to be attacking the Cradle. Get ready to get the artifact piece so we can move on to another world."

"Suuuuure thing sarge!" Shina replied in a blissful tone while wagging a finger up in the air. Alex turned around, gave her a quick glance, and started to make his way back to the hall. Before he entered, he looked back again and thought "…Now that I think about it, Shina and Aria have some similarities to each other."

He then found himself inexplicitly blushing and shook his head, turning away and murmuring like a loon "B-But unlike Sol, I don't have feelings for my Aria…I-I swear I don't." He clenched his fists tightly and walked away, preparing for what would be a grand battle to defeat the Conclave.

Next Time: New World Order