The insides of JERICHO base blazed now with the fire of battle. The bases florescent lighting now flashed a deathly red with the onslaught of fighting. The alarm continued to howl like a trumpeter hailing the first charge. Diclonius and silpelit alike fell under the influence of Tomo. Only the strongest were able to fight his influence, and even some of them could not hold out for long. The weaker ones however, easily became slaves to his will, killing at his behest. They slaughtered soldiers from whom they had trained, fought, laughed, and died with, people who had become their family without any sense of remorse, or inclination of what they were doing. They weren't even truly themselves. Tomo had invaded the confines of their mind and consumed their mental restraints. Now they were like puppets, dangling on strings to the master's song, only there was no master to guide them. Only their instinct kill remained. A mere shadow of a shadow. And yet through it all, Tomo controlled them with remarkable ease.
Even at this very moment, as he stood opposite Kosuke Irabi, ready for combat, his influence and power over the base did not flatter.
"Why?" the little man across from him asked, "What are you after?" Tomo had to chuckle. It was so transparent what he was trying to do his thoughts might as well been made of glass. He was stalling for time, hoping that if he provoked Tomo to reveal his plan he might earn himself a few more seconds to think of a way out of the situation. It was all so juvenile it was damn near cute. But it was useless. He was pinned on both sides, and while Tomo could sense how powerful the boy was, his was vastly that much greater. The boy was caught in a, as the expression went…dead end. Tomo decided to taunt Kosuke.
And what exactly will that do? Tomo asked with clear satisfaction in his voice, So what if I tell you what I want, what will that change? Nothing. All it will do is give you a few more moments to contemplate your inevitable fate. So you don't need to know anything. The only people in this plot that matter now are me and Lucy. You and the rest of the diclonius are just peons.
Tomo did not need to see Kosuke's to know his taunting was working. The boy's presence radiated a mixture of anger and determination. He could now feel the two opposing forces struggling within Kosuke's mind as one tried to overpower the other. Tomo decided to push even more.
But I will say thank you for looking out for my Lucy Kosuke. The boy looked confused at hearing his own name. Oh yes, I know exactly who you are. I can read your mind like an open book, and I know how much you care about Lucy. But I'm sorry to say that your star-crossed romance just isn't in the plan.
Kosuke's anger turned to fury, while determination turned to thoughts of love. That was good. Love, Tomo knew, was the easiest emotion to manipulate.
But don't worry, I'll be sure to pass your love onto Lucy. Do you want to at least know what I have planned for her? I plan on taking her for myself, perhaps in this very base. Yes, the mood would seem right. Imagine, us surrounded by litters of dead bodies, while I remove every last slip of her clothing, doesn't it sound romantic? All ofKosuke's were now lost in a whirlpool of growing anger that threatened to explode at any moment. And after I take her for myself, I'll move onto my real plan. But do you wanna know the best part? I'll be doing all of this, with the body I'm about to steal from you. Won't that be nice for both of us? I get what I want…and you get what you want.
Kosuke could stand it no longer. Screaming out in fury, he extended his vectors at lightning speed, launching them at Tomo. Tomo casually jumped out of the way as the floor where he once stood now bore a giant dent. Tomo began lightly jumping from side to side as Kosuke launched random attacks with his vectors denting all parts of the all. Tomo had done it. He pushed the boy so far over the edge that now he was blind with anger and hate, which did not make good for combat. He was attacking blindly without rhyme or reason, which made his movements easily predictable. Even RAVEN could even safely avoid the brunt of Kosuke's attacks. But apart from making the boy a poor fighter, it also weakened his mental defenses. Tomo could easily jump bodies and take over the boys mind, but he wasn't in any rush. He was enjoying dodging his attacks, watching him yell and scream and get angrier at each missed kill.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU," he screamed at him after another failed assault. Tomo used one of Nana's vectors to sneak up behind him and punch the boy hard in the back of the head. The blow sent the boy falling to the floor. Tomo could've easily killed the boy, or even taken over his body right then and there, but Tomo let the boy get back to his feet.
How are you going to do that when you can't even stand up? Tomo asked with a smile. Kosuke screamed and used his vectors to launch himself at Tomo. Tomo then stepped aside, and just as Kosuke passed by him, used another vector to shot one of Nana's prosthetic limbs at him. The blow caught Kosuke right in the cheek, sending him banging across the opposite wall. Tomo reattached the limb as he let Kosuke recover. He was now coughing up a small amount of blood. Tomo made a mental note not to be too rough with him. After all, he was going to need this body very soon.
As he looked at the boy, bruised and angry beneath him, he thought how foolish he was. A diclonius trying to fight fate was close to begin disgraceful. No diclonius could fight fate. And nobody would fight Tomo's fate. After the two shared a quick glance, Kosuke glaring up while Tomo smirked down, Kosuke launched a new assault at Tomo.
Why can't I kill him!
Kosuke was throwing his vectors as far as they could reach with as much force as he could muster, but the monster known as Tomo kept easily avoiding them. And every time he missed, he saw Tomo take just enough time to smirk at him. Every so often he even used one of Nana's vectors to slap or gently nudge him enough to send him stumbling.
Kosuke knew he had to clam down before he could seriously fight Tomo, but he couldn't help it. His emotions had taken over, ruling out reason and logic. As he listened to Tomo talking, the wall he had built around his natural diclonius anger and hatred came crumbling down. Much like the real walls of Jericho, Kosuke ironically noted. Now, he was out of his own control, but still not in Tomo's either. He felt more like he was watching his body fight from a distance as he tried to shout instructions it refused to follow. Now, he had become like so many diclonius before him. Consumed by nothing but hatred.
But Kosuke was stronger than them, and he was determined to regain control. As his body continued to fight, and while Tomo distractedly toyed with him, Kosuke dove into his inner mind.
Within seconds, Kosuke opened his eyes and was surrounded by the endless gray void. He knew Tomo was somewhere inside here, and he needed to rebuild the barrier blocking his diclonius anger. He ran headlong into the void, searching the deepest parts of his mind. Time continued to pass on the outside, and Kosuke was unable to tell the difference between seconds or even hours in this place. Time seemed to run together. Finally, out of nowhere, a door appeared before him. The door was boringly simple, with the exception of the giant deadbolt that was currently unlocked. Kosuke stepped forward to try and lock the door again, but before he could reach for the knob Tomo, in his real body, stepped from behind the door to block his path.
Did you really think it would be that simple? Tomo asked in a mocking, smirking grin. You know you really disappoint me. I thought you'd be smarter than this. Before Kosuke could say anything, Tomo struck him hard with one of his vectors, sending Kosuke tumbling back. As Kosuke rose to his feet, he extended his own vectors to defend himself. But something was wrong. For some unknown reason, his vectors would not come at his command. Tomo struck Kosuke again in the gut, causing Kosuke to double over and cough up a small puddle of blood.
"What–" he tried to say before the words were lost in a coughing fit.
Confused, Tomo asked him, Let me explain then. Ever since my death I've gotten a few new trick up my sleeve. The least of which is the ability to control other diclonius and silpelits with my essence. And the stronger I become, the more I can control at one time. But the key to my new powers is the ability to jump from body to body as I see fit. Silpelits prove the easiest to jump to, while pureblooded diclonius, such as yourself prove more difficult.
Kosuke tried to stand up, but another punch from a clenched vector fist sent him face first to the ground. Tomo smiled broadly as he continued to look down in victory over Kosuke.
However, I can still jump to a pure diclonius body under certain conditions. Like say, if the diclonius gets so emotionally distraught that the part of the brain that usually controls and keeps a diclonius from going berserk, suddenly stops working, then I can use the hole in that part of the brain to send my soul…and bam! A brand new body for me. In other words…
Tomo leaned down to grab Kosuke by the throat and hoisted him high into the air. Kosuke vision was starting to become blurry from the blood trickling into his eye and from exhaustion. But he could still make out the look of madness on Tomo's face.
…you never stood a chance. The moment your diclonius fury took over, my victory was assured.
Tomo pulled Kosuke in close, and whispered sinisterly into his ear.
Your body is now mine!
Kosuke tried to struggle, but it was too late. He could already feel Tomo's consciousness start to invade his own, and his mental strength was far superior to his own. Blackness started to surround him, and before he fell completely into the void of nothingness, he had one final thought.
Lucy! Please be safe!
Nana opened her eyes, to find herself in an area that somehow was completely foreign, yet was also familiar. Her vision was somewhat obscured, and her head felt like it was spinning on a turntable. As she cradled her head, small bits and pieces of memory started to return to her. She still didn't have a complete picture, but she had enough to understand. She saw Kohta, Mayu, Lucy, and the twins in danger. She saw Tomo, taking over her body, and her struggling as he used her for God knows what. The rest was too convoluted to understand right now amidst all the noise.
Nana straightened herself and finally began to take in her surroundings. The place reminded her of the facility where her Papa used to work, and where she, Lucy, and Tomo used to live. Big, giant hallways made out of metal, with flashing red lights and screeching sounds that made her ears hurt. Nana didn't know where she was or what all of this meant. All she knew was that her family was somewhere inside this odd place. She could feel them. She also knew this place wasn't safe. Nana remembered the flashing lights and screeching from the facility before, and learned that they meant some kind of trouble. And she knew she had to find her family before something happened.
As Nana started to leave she for the first time, she noticed the two other figures that occupied the hall with her. Both were boys. One was a human who was dressed like some kind of soldier. The other was a diclonius who was dressed similarly, and both were looking directly at her. And something about the way the were looking at her put Nana on edge.
Nice to see you again Number 7, came the dry voice from the diclonius boy. Nana suddenly felt cold as the boy looked at her, and she could feel her body shivering. She tried to back away, but her legs would not move. In that moment, Nana knew who this must be. Only one person, other than Lucy and Number 35, had filled her with this kind of fear. Fear so thick, it was almost physical.
Tomo inched closer toward her.
I'm afraid you are no longer needed.
And before Nana could even register the meaning of that final statement, vectors shot out to surround her on every side. There was no escape.
Lucy cut down another possessed diclonius as she hide behind a stack of toppled over crates. On one side of the hall, human soldiers fired of clip after clip of ammunition, while on the opposite side, brainwashed diclonius used their vectors to block the bullets and cut down soldiers. And Lucy was caught right in the middle of it all with no escape. She'd been on her way to find Kohta and the others when before she rounded a corner, a brainwashed diclonius had attacked her, which she was only barely able to dodge. She tried then to run the other way, but a group of soldiers had opened fired. That's when Lucy saw the debris littering the hall and dove behind it for cover.
"The bullets aren't working," one soldier shouted above the chaos.
"Just keep shooting! They can't block all of them," another answered. And indeed, some diclonius were falling over dead. And every time one did, Lucy felt a lurching sensation inside her head, which she assumed was their souls returning to her as Tomo once explained. But there was no time to consider Tomo, or what he was really planning. Lucy had to get out of here and soon if she was going to find her family. From behind her, Lucy heard the gushing sound of blood, and looked behind herself in time to see the top half of a JERICHO soldier fall to the floor. The soldiers were quickly being overtaken. While the diclonius couldn't block all the bullets, there were still to many diclonius for the soldiers to defeat with mere bullets.
"Where are those tungsten bullets, or the special vector piercing rounds," a soldier shouted nervously.
"They've already taken the supply depot," another shouted back as he fired randomly at the oncoming enemy.
Lucy cursed. Even brainwashed, these diclonius were smart. Perhaps that was all due to Tomo's influence. But either way, the diclonius would soon be on her, and Lucy had to act now. She had no choice if she wanted to survive. Steeling herself, Lucy leapt out from behind the crate and cut down the nearest diclonius. All the others looked at her with zombie-like surprise, only for her to cut another two to shreds. The soldiers saw their opportunity and fired another barrage of bullets. With the diclonius now being attacked from two sides, they were soon quickly defeated until only Lucy and a few soldiers were left. As soon as they were defeated, Lucy took of at a sprint down the hall where the diclonius had come.
"Wait," shouted a soldier, but she didn't look back.
Mayu crouched behind the bed of her room, holding the twins close to her as they cried out in fear. From far off, Mayu could hear the sounds of gunfire and fighting. She had absolutely no idea has to what had happened or what was going on, but she dared not leave her room. Frozen by her fear, she hid herself with Yuka and Nyu, hoping that any minute the fighting would stop or that she might wake up from this nightmare. Images of her impending death ran through her mind with every scream and every gunshot she heard. And all the while, her mind kept asking why it had turned out this way. Why did it seem her and her family could never find the happiness they deserved? Was it fate? Were they merely commanded to suffer like his?
Mayu was just starting to wonder if they would ever find true happiness, let alone get out of this alive, when she heard a loud banging on the door to her room. Instinctively, she held the girls closer to her chest, readying herself for the inevitable. There was another banging on the door. A small tear ran down her cheek as Mayu quietly said goodbye to everyone she loved, regretting that she was never going to see them again.
"Mayu! Are you in there? Open up please," came the familiar voice from the other side. Surprised, Mayu tentatively got up and set the twins gently down on the bed. Slowly, she moved toward the door, not believing what she heard.
"Kohta?" she asked, praying with all her heart that she had heard right.
"Mayu!" Kohta sounded relieved to hear her voice. Mayu was certainly relieved to hear his. It meant he was still alive. "Open the door," he asked her. Mayu opened the door, and before it fully slide open, Kohta had slipped in and pushed the button to close the door behind him. As he turned to face her, Mayu put her arms around him and wrapped him in the tightest hug her shaking arms could.
"I was so worried about you," she said through the now steady stream of tears. Kohta returned the hug but quickly broke it off.
"I'm glad you and the girls are ok too, but we're not out of this yet," Kohta told her. Mayu stod away and got her first look of him. He was dressed in a JERICHO uniform and held in his hand some kind of semi-automatic gun, the like of which Mayu had never seen. He looked very out of place, but all the same, the idea gave Mayu some comfort. Kohta was here now, and he would protect them. Yet out of the corner of her eye, she could see the smallest shiver of the hand Kohta was holding the gun with.
"What are we going to do?" Mayu asked him with concern, "Lucy and Nana are still somewhere in the base. We have to find them!"
"And we will," Kohta said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "They've ordered the evacuation of the base, so first we're going to find Lucy and Nana, then we're getting out of here." The two of them searched the room for whatever they could find that might be useful, only to end up packing a duffel bag with some extra clothes. Mayu then found a second duffel bag, which she would use to help carry the twins. Placing them comfortable in the bag and keeping the top unzipped, she then through in over her shoulder, while Kohta took the one with the clothes. After exchanging meaningful glances, Kohta took point in front of the door with Mayu close behind. Waiting a few seconds, breathing deeply, he hit the button and the door slide open. Then, with his gun held at the ready, he and Mayu ventured out into the battle.
Nana dodged another flurry of vectors as the floor grew another dent in its fatly growing collection. It took all her regained strength and energy just to dodge Tomo's attacks, and he was getting closer with each strike. Soon, Nana wouldn't be able to dodge them at all. She tried hard to think of a strategy or a way to escape, but she'd never been much of a strategist. Whenever she'd fought anyone, she'd manage to survive mostly on luck. And she doubted luck would carry her in this particular fight.
Come on Number 7, aren't you going to even fight back? This isn't much of a fight unless you actually do something, Tomo taunted her. And as much as she didn't want to admit it, he was right. All she was doing now was delaying and buying time, but if she really wanted a chance to get out, she'd have to attack him and hoped that created an opening. Tomo was stronger than her, and she only vaguely understood what was going on, but fighting him head on was better than what she was currently doing.
Without waiting or thinking, Nana hurled herself at him, hoping this might catch him by surprise. She swung a prosthetic fist at him, but Tomo easily dodged it, smirking at her.
That's the way, he said cheerfully at her. Then his smiled turned into a deathly frown, But not good enough. One of his vectors connected with Nana's stomach and sent her flying towards a wall. It was only by extending her vectors at the last second that she was able to divert some of the force of contact with the wall and save herself. As she lay hurled on the floor, she coughed up a small amount of blood, then quickly and painfully rose to her feet. Despite not hitting the wall at full force, she felt she may have broken something, but she didn't have time for that. Tomo was already on her again, and Nana was back to dodging.
Nana tried again for a sneak attack, but once again Tomo was able to dodge. However on his counter attack, this time Nana was able to dodge it herself. Tomo shouted some more taunting words at her, but she tuned him out. All her mind could even try to register was how she was going to escape,which was still looking pretty dim. Then she had an idea. It was a risk, as it would only work once. But if it did succeed, she might create a small enough window for her to escape and find the others.
When Tomo attacked her again, this time she let it hit her full force. And once again, the blow caused her to fly toward the wall. She let herself hit the wall with more force than before, making a loud thud sound as her spine met steel. She crumbled to the floor and lay motionless, hoping Tomo did not sense how she still managed to soften the impact. As she lay face down, feigning defeat, she heard the slow and purposeful steps of Tomo as his feet echoed off the floor. He inched ever closer until Nana sensed he was standing over her like a lion over a freshly killed gazelle. She waited. Finally, she sensed Tomo extend his vectors and hold them high over her body, preparing the killing blow. Then, as he brought the vectors down with killing intent, Nana sat upright and launched a prosthetic limb at his face. The look of surprise on Tomo's face was priceless to her, but it didn't last long. With only centimeters to spare, Tomo and caught the arm with his hand of flesh and grimaced down at Nana.
Nana could hardly believe it, her mouth open with shock and disappointment. With a sharp movement, Tomo kicked Nana in the stomach, sending her into a coughing fit.
Did you really think that was going to work? Tomo asked her with mocking smugness. You really disappointment me you know that. And tried to launch another surprise assault, but Tomo gave her another swift punch to the jaw, sending her back down. As Nana lay face down, her body now racked with pain, Tomo reached down and pulled her up by a fistful of hair. He leaned in closely, and when he spoke, it was so low Nana could hardly hear it over the alarm. You know I never thanked you for lending me your body. You were very useful in my plan. So take comfort in the fact that your pitiful life at least had some meaning in the end. Tomo pulled her up higher. Now fully standing, holding her off her feet by her hair, Tomo glared into her red eyes. Any last words? he asked politely.
Nana looked back at him with equal disdain and disgust. Summoning up what she was sure was her last bit of strength, she arched her head back far enough to spit a large wad of saliva in his face.
"Go to hell," she cursed at him, surprising even herself. Nana had never been one for profanity. With his free hand, Tomo wiped the spit from his eye. When he was done, he just casually smiled back at her.
You first, he said.
Before anyone knew what was happening, a gunshot echoed in the almost abandoned hall. The bullet grazed a bit of Tomo's arm, causing him to drop Nana in reaction. Ray turned to look behind him and was only able to dodge another bullet that was supposedly meant for him. A few more shots echoed out, these ones aimed for Tomo, causing him to double back. When Nana looked up, she was an older human coming her way.
"This way! Hurry!"
Nana didn't know who this man was, but she didn't need telling twice. She jumped to her feet and took the opportunity that had been given to her. Both her and the human ran down the hall, the human turning back to shot a few final bits of gunfire to slow their pursuers.
"What's going on? Who are you? Why did you help me?" Nana asked after they had a good amount of distance between them and the others. Her mind was now flurry of even more questions, and she hoped to get some now.
"My name is Bishop," he answered her, "And right now, lets focus on getting you back with the others before I start answering anymore questions."
Tomo looked at the now empty hallway, feeling a bit unsatisfied. He had wanted to kill Number 7, but he had been rudely denied it. Of course, he could have chased after them and probably catch them fairly quickly, but he was not a fan of chase scenes. And besides, maybe it would be more fun this way.
"I'm sorry about that," RAVEN said apologetically, "I had no idea he was sneaking up behind me. I was so focused on your fight I forgot to keep watch."
It's fine, Tomo answered him, It doesn't matter if she escapes now or not. It doesn't matter if any of them escape. They'll be dead soon enough. With that, Tomo began walking down the hall with RAVEN close by, hoping to find a nice quiet room from which he could observe the rest of the battle peacefully.
Sakuroka cut down anyone who was unlucky enough to get in her way. Diclonius, JERICHO soldier, she didn't care. All she cared about was finding Tomo and ripping his face off with her vectors. As she marched down the hall, another group of soldiers appeared on the far end.
"Stop," one of them shouted before he and his friends open fired on her. They only managed to get off a few rounds before they were all dead at Sakuroka's feet. She didn't know who the good and bad guys were, and honestly she didn't care. She wasn't even betting on making it out of this base alive. But as long as Tomo died before her, then at least she would die with some dignity and pride.
"TOMO," she shouted, hoping he could hear her, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"
She turned and faced a sliding door that had been torn apart and lay in pieces off to the side. Sakuroka carefully stepped through and continued her search. It was harder now to sense Tomo with all these diclonius and silpelits running around, but she'd find him eventually. She'd find him if it was the last thing she did, which it probably would be.
She came upon a four-way intersection of halls and was about to randomly chose when, to her right, she felt a familiar presence. She turned with her vectors extended, hoping it was Tomo, only to be met with a sight that surprised her. Standing there, looking back at her was Lucy. For a long moment the two just stared at each other, both unsure how to take this in. Neither were certain about the other, and it still had not been forgotten that Sakuroka had originally come to Kamakura in order to kill Lucy. The tension between the two felt like a weight, holding the two of them where they stood.
Ok, now what? she thought.
Kohta and Mayu had been lucky so far. They hadn't come across any diclonius and only managed to pass a few soldiers even. But instead of making them feel confident, it only served to make them more nervous. All they seemed to pass were litters of dead bodies, both human and diclonius alike, all mutilated in terrible ways that would forever mark their final demise. It gave them both a sense of foreboding, as if the worst would be waiting for them around the next corner.
"How much farther?" Mayu asked him.
"We're pretty close. Just a few more turns and we should be there," Kohta said, though he wasn't exactly sure. He still wasn't very familiar with the JERICHO base layout, but he was at least fairly certain this was the way they should come. But if that were the case, shouldn't they be seeing more JERICHO soldiers evacuating.
He and May turned around another corner and instantly stopped, for someone was blocking their way. He stood there, shotgun held at the ready, a cold indifference painting his old features.
"Well if it isn't the boy who wants to play soldier and his meaningless friend," Stone said to them. "I'm afraid this is as far as you get."
A/N - Well guys, I did a better job of updating sooner this time. I hope you weren't waiting too long. I also have some good news. I just planned out the rest of this story and how many chapters are left, and there aren't going to be too many more. So I'm almost done. Stick with me, and we'll see the rest of this story through together. Thanks for all your support and patients.
The battle inside JERICHO base rages on. Kosuke has been taken over by Tomo, who is now using his body for his own. Nana and Bishop try to escape together, while Mayu and Kohta confront Stone. Meanwhile, Lucy and Sakuroka have come face to face. What will happen? Who will survive? And who will be left behind? Find out in the next chapter of Elfen Lied: The End.