The Ether Conflict
Chapter 25: The Deal
Entering the lab's entrance, the girls find themselves inside the Garage Depot, which is completely empty for some reason. Scanning the area, the only thing they can see are some fuel tanks, that are used for refueling vehicles and a lot of wooden boxes stacked in random places. The floor of the Garage Depot is marked with yellow lines that have the shape of the letter "U", probably acting as markers and indicating to the vehicles where to park.
"This is weird. You'd expect the Garage Depot to be full of personnel, like engineers or crew members," Saori says to the others, wondering why the enemy has left the space unoccupied.
"And since this is the only way to the underground levels of the lab, you'd expect this area to be heavily fortified and defended," Mako adds, lowering her weapon slowly.
"Maybe the remaining personnel evacuated somehow without us noticing, or by the time we arrived, most of the important things like data or high-tech machines, had been destroyed, so only the ones able to fight remained," Yukari suggests, turning to face Miho. "What're your thoughts in this, Miss Nishizumi?"
Placing a hand on her chin, Miho starts looking around the room with a thoughtful expression. "It could be what you suggested Yukari, but it could also be a trap. The only way to access the lower levels is by that single elevator, which means they could have easily barricaded themselves in each floor and have created killzones in the corridors that connect with the elevator," Miho counters, turning to gaze at Yukari. Of note, Miho had decided to deactivate her powers for now, not because she was afraid she wouldn't have enough energy to face Mannheim, but because she was conscious of her behavior changing. When she used her powers, she became more aggressive and harsher towards everything and everyone, like they were annoying her and despite being conscious of the behavioral changes, she felt they were natural, which was very unnerving for her.
"Our only option is to take the elevator and pray we do not find ourselves in one of these supposed killzones then," Hana says to the rest of the team and Miho nods in agreement.
"We can always count on Miss Nishizumi to use her powers and blast the bad guys away!" Yukari exclaims cheerfully as the girls go towards the elevator.
"Can bullets even harm you?" Saori asks Miho in genuine curiosity.
"I'd rather not find out," Miho answers back with an awkward smile.
Entering the elevator, the girls look at a panel on their left that has 6 buttons, one for each level the underground lab has.
"In which one should we go?" Hana asks first.
"I say the 3rd level!" Yukari says.
"Why that level?" Miho asks curiously.
"Just a hunch."
"Umm...that's not a good enough reason Yukari," Miho says slowly and Yukari deflates like a balloon with each word.
"Usually in video games, the bosses are always on the lowest level, when it comes to underground structures, so Mannheim might be...on the lowest level...what?" Saori reasons, but says the last part slowly, since everyone looks at her with a surprised look.
"Saori...since when do you know about...video games?" Miho asks slowly after finding her voice.
"Well...I had read in a magazine that boys love video games, so I thought if I played a couple and learned about them, I could increase my chances of finding a cute boy," Saori explains, her cheeks being light red from the embarrassment she feels. Saori tries to ask Miho something to redirect the attention the girls give her, but Mako is already making her move.
"And, lo and behold, a miracle has happened and Saori found a handsome boyfriend," Mako says in a monotone, almost bored voice deliberately, going as far as to raise both of her hands above her head.
"Hey!" Saori yells and starts pinching and pulling Mako's cheeks. Her entire face has turn scarlet and the girls can't stop from giggling at Mako's remark.
Wiping the tears that have formed in her eyes, Miho turns to face the panel and presses the button for the 6th level. The button vanishes in a tiny explosion of green smoke and the elevator starts moving downwards.
"Eh?" Miho says, seeing the button vanishing.
"Is everything alright Miss Nishizumi?" Yukari asks and Hana too turns to face her friend and commander. Saori just keeps pulling Mako's cheeks while looking at their direction.
"The button. As soon as I pressed it...it vanished," she says slowly and points at where the button used to be. All the girls look at where Miho is pointing and as she said, the button is nowhere to be seen.
"Could it have been set by Mannheim then?" Hana asks.
"Probably. He did demonstrate he has powers, though it could have been another user," Miho says with a thoughtful expression.
"That reminds me!" Saori speak ups suddenly and everyone turns to look at her. "How did you recognize Mannheim? We only learned about him through what the president gave us and there wasn't a mention of how he looked or how his voice sounded." Everyone turns to face Miho and she can feel sweat starting to form on her brow.
"Indeed. He also mentioned a girl named Sakura. He said she was paired with you during the experiments," Hana adds, eyeing Miho with a worried expression. "And you also knew the girl."
Feeling pressured from the intense stares her friends give her, Miho gulps audibly, before spending the next minute explaining about the dream she had, how she recognized Mannheim and why she asked him about Sakura. Finishing her explanation, everyone remains silent for the rest of the descent.
Reaching the 6th level, the doors of the elevator open and the girls find themselves in a huge open space that is as big and tall as a soccer stadium. Exiting the elevator, its doors close and it starts moving to the upper levels.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Saori says in amazement, looking all around her. "How is it even possible for this room to exist."
"From an engineering standpoint, this should have had collapsed from the weight it must support," Mako says, looking at the flat ceiling. "If it was dome-shaped, maybe it could stand."
"I see you have come," a voice says, snapping the girls back to reality. In the middle of the room stands Mannheim, looking at them with a slight smirk. The girls immediately take aim at him with their weapons. The weapons start glowing with a soft green color and immediately vanish from their hands and the girls gasp.
"Hey, do you know how much these cost?!" Saori shouts at him angrily, raising a shaking fist at him.
"That's what you are worried about?" Mako raises an eyebrow at Saori.
"Please, be at ease. I merely moved them away so that we can speak. I can see that your commander has some questions for me." Despite the distance that separates them, Mannheim's voice can be heard loud and clear across the room, like he is standing a few meters away from them.
"Girls, I want you to stay here," Miho says and everyone instantly turns to look at her.
"What?! Why?!" Saori asks urgently, being shocked by Miho's words.
"What if something happens Miss Nishizumi?!" Yukari shouts and grabs Miho's shoulders. "What if you get injured?! We won't be able to help you! Not only that, but he has powers like yours, what if he attacks you?!"
"You said it yourself Yukari, he has powers like me. If he attacks me and you are there, there is a high chance that you will be caught in the crossfire and get injured...or worse," Miho says softly, avoiding eye contact with Yukari. Placing her hands on Yukari's, she gently removes them from her shoulders and starts walking towards Mannheim.
"But-" Yukari starts saying, but feels a hand on her left shoulder. Looking back, she sees Hana shaking her head, indicating to her that no words will change her mind.
"We understand. Please be careful," Hana says to Miho.
"I miss our school days. Everything was so much simpler and we didn't have to do questionable things or put our lives on the line," Saori sighs, looking at the fleeting figure of Miho, who is nearing Mannheim.
"Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. We have to do things we don't like," Hana says.
Stopping a few meters away from Mannheim, both him and Miho stay silent for a few moments.
"Welcome Subject 23. I'm sure you have a lot of questions, and I will answer them all, but let me warn you first," Mannheim says with a sinister smile. "The truth, might be too much to handle."
Miho says nothing at first and activates her power, just to make sure Mannheim won't try anything. "Sakura," Miho says in a calm, yet hostile, tone. "Is she alive?"
"Unfortunately, Subject 22 is deceased," Mannheim says with a neutral tone and Miho clenches her right fist as hard as she can, trying to resist the urge to attack Mannheim here and now.
"Then, who where the women that attacked me and her?" Miho asks with a harsh tone.
"Our world exists along an infinite amount of worlds inside a reality bubble. Our reality exists along other realities-"
"That are maintained by Ether, I know that stuff. What I want to know is who were these women," Miho interrupts Mannheim.
"It seems Ether alters your behavioral pattern, interesting," Mannheim mutters to himself, looking intently at Miho. "But it matters not now. Where was I, ah yes. The realities exist in a place where time and space do not apply. In that place exist 12 beings that can fully manipulate the Ether. They are the ones that keep it in check and make sure it doesn't invade in any of the realities. Those 2 women, where two of these 12 beings."
"And you sent us at this place, just to force me to use my powers." Miho's voice is shaking with anger, but she doesn't make any move for now. The more information she has, the better understanding of Mannheim's motives she will have.
"Yes. I will not apologize for my actions and what they caused. I have my own goals and I'll stop at nothing to complete them. The 12 will pay for what they have done," Mannheim says with a dark tone and Miho takes a mental note of it.
"Why did they attack us Mannheim? I don't think a 6 year-old girl could do much to them."
"You wielded Ether. They don't trust humans with their power and will actively hunt them down. Interestingly, they will not kill those who are born with the ability to use Ether," Mannheim informs her.
"Then what's my role in all of this? You seem to have gone in a great extent to bring me here. You kidnapped my friends, attacked Blackout to find me and even lured me in this lab," Miho says.
"You are the only person to be able to wield Serum Black. You probably have the potential to defeat the 12 and I'll use you to exact my revenge against them," Mannheim says bluntly to her with a serious expression.
"Why? What these 12 have done to you? Couldn't you accomplish this with the Institute?" Miho asks him, in a bid she will learn Mannheim's plans.
"Why I want revenge is of no concern to you. And I couldn't care less about the Institute. These terrorists were just another convenient tool for me to use."
"Terrorists?" Miho asks in a surprised tone, raising an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you create the Institute, along with some generals from the JSDF?"
"The Institute is an international terrorist organization bent on world domination. I just used them to have access to this lab. The generals cooperated with them, because they promised them to be the governors of Japan, can you believe this?" Mannheim laughs. "I took care of them though, along with any guy from the Institute. Japan is clean from them for now."
"Is that why you did all these horrible experiments? Just so you could exact revenge?!" Miho says quietly, but her voice echoes throughout the room.
"These monsters killed my family. These monsters caused the earthquakes which plunged everything into chaos! These monsters destroyed the city of Tokyo, killing everyone that was in the city at the time!" Mannheim bursts in a fit of anger, before quickly composing himself. Miho and even the girls look at him with shocked expressions and open mouths.
"What do you mean, they caused it?"
"Some of them interfered with our world, because they were bored. They caused the earthquakes for their own amusement, to see how the humans would react. Then two of them decided to battle because of this. They clashed their weapons over the city of Tokyo and the energy that was released, leveled the whole city," Mannheim says with a dark expression.
Sighing in response, Miho takes a deep breath to calm and recompose herself. "I will not become another tool in your path to exact revenge Mannheim. Your path will only cause more death and destruction." Miho's body starts getting covered by her aura. "I will stop you here and now."
All according to plan. "Then let us make a deal. If I remember correctly, you lead a branch of Blackout named Ether Force." Miho looks at him suspiciously, but says nothing, so Mannheim continues. "If you win our fight, I'll work at your branch as a researcher. Since I created the Serums, I can create more with the proper machines and materials, as well as help the users develop their powers more."
"And if you win?"
"You will come and work under me," Mannheim says with a huge grin.
Miho doesn't answer immediately, weighing the consequences of her response. Should she accept and win, she will have a powerful "ally" at her disposal, the creator of the Serums himself, but should she lose, she will have to become Mannheim's tool and help him with his plans. Should she decline and win, she won't be sure Mannheim will cooperate with her and he will probably escape. If she loses, Mannheim will either capture her, or kill her to make sure she won't interfere with his plans.
It doesn't take long to make a decision. "Fine, I accept your deal," Miho says, determined to stop him once and for all.
Mannheim's body starts to get covered in a bright green aura. Moving his left hand outwards, a dome is created where Miho's friends stand, trapping them inside it. "Just to make sure they won't get caught in our fight. Now, let us begin."
And with that phrase, both of their auras clash with each other, shaking the whole room. After a second, the auras retract back to them. Now, the real battle begins.
Summoning two energy daggers at her hands, Miho shoots forward at Mannheim, aiming the daggers at his heart and head. Mannheim sidesteps on his right and lightly taps Miho at her left side. Miho gets hurled through the air and hits the wall of the room, throwing chunks of concrete and dirt everywhere. A cloud of dust obscures the hole that was created from Miho's impact. A fraction of a second later, Mannheim gets hit by a ruby red ray square in the chest, getting propelled to the opposite wall and breaking it. As the dust finally falls to the ground, Mannheim sees Miho standing in front of the broken wall, her hand holding three black kunai knives with a red circle around them. Miho throws the kunai knives and Mannheim creates a barrier in front of him to block them.
Hitting the barrier, the kunai knives explode at the same time, producing three domes of red energy that cover Mannheim's barrier completely.
Did I get him? Miho thinks, as she sees the domes vanishing. To her surprise, the barrier still holds, although it has a few cracks.
"That was a good attack, though it isn't enough to even scratch me," Mannheim mocks. "Now it's my turn." Vanishing from where he stands, Mannheim reappears behind Miho and punches her in her back.
Not expecting him to appear behind her, Miho fails to defend herself and gets hurled through the air again, though this time she is prepared and lands on the wall with her feet. Covering them with Ether, she launches herself to Mannheim, the wall under her feet breaking and forming cracks at a 10-meter radius. While in mid-flight, she creates 2 energy spears and throws them at Mannheim.
Mannheim deflects the first spear and catches the second, crushing it with his hand like it is made out of paper. Miho creates an energy dagger and when she reaches Mannheim, tries to stab him again. Mannheim creates an energy sword and blocks Miho's strike, stopping her. Using the momentum she already has, Miho forces herself up in the air and making a frontflip, she covers her right leg with her aura and performs an axe-kick. Mannheim steps backwards and barely avoids the strike, Miho's leg missing Mannheim's nose by mere millimeters. Hitting the ground, the ground in a 20-meter radius visibly cracks and creates a shallow crater. Mannheim raises his sword to strike Miho, but stops when he sees her grinning at him. Turning around and slicing upwards diagonally from left to right, he manages to slash Miho's wolf, who had jumped in the air and was aiming for his neck. The wolf falls to the ground and explodes to harmless smoke, which quickly disappears.
"I had forgotten your canine friend. That was a nice attack, you almost had me," Mannheim praises Miho, who only frowns at him. Raising his sword, Mannheim charges at Miho, who defends with her dagger. As both combatants trade blows, alternating into attacking and defending, the girls watch the fight through the safety of Mannheim's dome.
"This...I can't even follow their movements!" Saori says in frustration, her eyes unable to follow the pace of the fight.
"It seems that Ether boosts the strength of their bodies at an extreme level," Mako comments as she sees Miho getting kneed by Mannheim with so much force that she is lifted a good two meters into the air.
"If we had powers like Miss Nishizumi, we could help her," Yukari says quietly, looking at Miho, who, recovering in mid-air, creates an energy spear and throws it at Mannheim, grazing his left arm slightly.
"Yukari, we have already talked about this. You know what Miho went through to acquire them. Do you think she would be happy if you had to make so many sacrifices just for the slim chance of getting stronger," Hana reprimands Yukari, more out of concern for her, than anything else.
In the meantime, Mannheim has managed to hit Miho with a well-placed punch, stunning her for a brief second. Mannheim punches Miho again and she stumbles backwards. Getting kneed to the gut, Miho feels the air forcefully leaving her lungs and she falls to her knees, gasping for air and coughing.
"I expected more of you, if I am honest," Mannheim says in disappointment looking down at Miho. "I thought you had so much potential, yet you can't keep up with me even when I use only a portion of my power."
Rising slowly and standing on shaky legs, Miho looks Mannheim straight in the eyes. "Just because you are more powerful, doesn't mean you should underestimate your opponent," Miho says, pointing at the ground between his legs.
Looking at where Miho points, Mannheim finds a black kunai knife lodged in the ground, crackling with electricity. His eyes widen in surprise when he recognizes the item.
"It's over Mannheim," Miho declares quietly, as the kunai knife disintegrates and the ground below him starts glowing. "I won."
A pillar the size of Mannheim shoots upwards from the ground in a brilliant ruby red color and engulfs him. In fact, the beam of energy is so powerful that it digs through the ceiling with ease and stops a few meters short of penetrating the hill's surface.
Miho sighs in relief, glad the fight is over; though her victory is short-lived.
"You didn't expect to defeat me so easily now, did you?" Mannheim's voice echoes in the room and Miho snaps her gaze in the now diminishing pillar of energy, that becomes smaller and smaller. After it vanishes, Mannheim is still where he last stood, the only indication of damage being his singed lab coat. "I have to say, I never imagined I'd have to use more than half of my power." Releasing all of his power, the air around Mannheim starts pulsing outwards, threatening to push Miho backwards. Her eyes widen in fear from the overwhelming concentration of Ether in the air and her body freezes, refusing to make any kinds of movement. "I'll acknowledge, you have potential, but you refuse to use it for some reason." Mannheim glances briefly at the girls inside the dome and develops a mischievous grin. "Or you just need a little bit of pushing."
"You leave my friends outside of this Mannheim!" Miho shouts at him and throws three energy daggers.
Mannheim easily dodges them and swings his sword horizontally, sending a thin layer of Ether energy at Miho.
Miho somersaults over it and throws her right hand forward. Clenching her fingers to a fist, she retracts her hand backwards and just stands there, doing nothing. Mannheim looks at her with a perplexed look, before feeling three objects stabbing him in the back. Getting stunned, Miho capitalizes on this and creates an energy spear, throwing it in his chest. The spear pierces his ribcage and exits out of his back. Any normal person should have died instantly from a wound like this, but Mannheim stands and his next move just shocks Miho even more.
"Such attacks won't work to me," he grins as he grabs Miho's spear and starts to absorb the energy. "I am not a human being anymore."
"H-How? T-This should be impossible," Miho stutters, unable to tear her eyes from the hole Mannheim has in his chest, which is slowly closing. After a few seconds, the hole has completely disappeared and Mannheim takes a single step forward. Miho barely registers his form, as she feels a burning sensation on her left side.
"Aaaaaaaargh!" she screams in pain as Mannheim's blade slashes through her left side. Falling to her knees, she grabs her wound with her right hand, keeping her mouth closed, as to not scream any further.
"I am like the 12. I use pure Ether instead of refining it first, like your brain does. Which means I can absorb and use the refined one too. You can use raw Ether too, though your brain would have to refine it first." Standing in front of Miho, he crouches to her level, looking her directly in the eyes. "The deal was in my favor, I won't deny it. Though if you somehow managed to win, I would have honor it."
Standing up once again, he grabs Miho from her neck and lifts her in the air. "I think it is time to finish this." Two semi-transparrent green wings emerge from Mannheim's back and start flapping. Mannheim then lifts himself in the air and flies through the hole the energy pillar had created at extreme speeds, still holding Miho from her neck.
"You will...not...win Mannheim." Miho croaks, feeling Mannheim's grip tightening slowly. "I will...defeat you."
"I'd like to see you trying," Mannheim smirks as they both reach the hole's end. Using Miho's body as a makeshift shield, he digs through the dirt and exits from the hill, finding themselves 50 meters above the ground in an instant. Spinning in his place, he throws Miho even higher.
Miho's body hurts everywhere, her mind getting overwhelmed with pain signals that threaten to make her lose consciousness. She tries to move, but her body refuses to obey her.
"This is the end. You lose, Subject 23," Miho hears Mannheim declare and finds him thrusting his hand towards her abdomen, brimming with green energy. I refuse to lose! she cries out in her mind. I will save my friends!
Using sheer willpower, she grabs Mannheim's hand and the moment it hits her, she deactivates her powers, allowing Mannheim's energy to enter her body, using the pure Ether as a temporary power boost. The consequences are grave though. Because she deactivated her powers, in order to be able to absorb Mannheim's energy, her body reverted to being as strong as an average girl, which means the punch she is about to receive will cause grave injuries. The air fills with the sound of internal organs getting crushed, as she vomits blood from her mouth. The pain is so unbearable, that she can only widen her eyes in response to it, the shock making her unable to scream.
Mannheim is so surprised by the stunt Miho pulled, that after he punches her, he just hovers in the air and looks at her falling body.
Despite the pain she feels, Miho tries to activate her powers before she hits the ground and dies for good. Though however much she tries, her powers refuse to activate and she doesn't know why. Unknown to her, thanks to the overwhelming amount of Ether she absorbed, her brain is literally trying to process it as fast as it can, leaving no capacity to manipulate the refined Ether. Come on, activate! she screams in her clouded mind as she rapidly approaches the ground. Her heads starts pounding and mere moments before touching the grassy soil, her powers activate and she slams on it like a meteor, digging the earth for about 50 meters, before finally stopping. Thanks to her powers, she managed to avoid instantaneous death by free falling, but her wounds are still grave and her head has started to pound like she is hitting it to a wall. Sitting up on the ground, she vomits even more blood then before. Her head starts pounding harder and harder and her vision blurs considerably. She can make out the outlines of some figures and what seems like two tanks, but she isn't so sure. She hears several voices, though they feel so distant, she can't understand them well.
"Once again, you surpass all of my expectations," Mannheim says, landing a few meters away from Miho. "To actually use my own attack to give yourself a temporary boost...though it seems it didn't work out in the end."
" It's time," Miho whispers as her mind finally processes the last amount of pure Ether. For a couple of seconds nothing happens.
"That's weird, your signature is fluctuating," Mannheim mutters and then realization hits him. A little bit late though. The air starts flowing violently outwards and red crystals start appearing out of the ground, encasing Miho inside a makeshift crystal dome. Mannheim is barely able to stay in place and the figures that are a few meters behind him fall to the ground, unable to resist the winds. As the wind dies down, the crystal dome starts cracking and after a bit, it completely breaks, revealing Miho standing.
Mannheim stares with interest at her appearance, as he prepares himself to attack. Miho's hands are clad in black gauntlets and in her chest is a black breastplate. Behind her back float two crystal wings that are at least 2 meters long. When he looks at her eyes, Mannheim feels his whole body stiffening. Her eyes have slit, cat-like pupils and seem to look directly at his soul. Miho slowly raises her right arm and 20 energy spears form all around her. "Bind," she says in an authoritarian voice and chains shoot from the ground, immobilizing Mannheim. She then unleashes all her spears, which home in Mannheim like missiles.
"Two can play this game," Mannheim says and releases a burst of pure Ether, shattering both the chains and spears. "You can't-" Mannheim utters, before noticing a black gauntlet that has red energy swirling all around it, mere millimeters away from his face. In the time Mannheim took to free himself and destroy the spears, Miho seemingly teleportation in front of him and moved her right hand backwards to prepare for a punch.
Hitting Mannheim, a huge explosion occurs that sends him crashing at the side of her Panzer IV. In fact, the punch is so powerful that the Schürtzen plates get blasted to pieces by Mannheim's body, which crashes to the side of the tank and flops to the ground, unmoving, but still breathing.
"I win," she declares and her powers deactivate. She instantly loses consciousness, as the strain in both her body and mind take effect. Though thanks to her transformation, all of her grave wounds, such as her crushed intestines, have been fully healed, meaning she is not in danger of dying. She can hear voices calling her name, but they get further and further, though she has an idea who they might be, which makes her smile, at least mentally.
In a round table that seems to have been set in the middle of a grassy field, sit 12 people, looking with great interest in a crystal sphere that floats on top of the table. The sphere shows a certain girl with brown eyes and brown hair laying unconscious on the ground, while several other girls run to her to check her condition.
"It seems the girl has the potential to become a candidate," a man speaks up.
"The previous girl has the potential to become a candidate too, but her power was barely registered. This girl here, her powers have the potential to surpass even us," another man says.
"The powers of both are resembling mine and my sister's. Plus I think I have seen that girl somewhere," another person, a female woman this time, points at the brown haired girl. "I think we should eliminate them before they get any stronger."
"I agree with my sister, humans cannot be trusted with so much power."
"But we all agreed not to interfere with the realities."
"Half of you did, not us."
"You can't play with their lives, you aren't a god!"
"We have the power, may as well use it."
The air gets filled with voices that argue with each other, until a 13th person makes her appearance.
"That's enough!" she commands and everyone stops talking. "Since I've taken a liking in these two girls, you are to keep observing them until further notice, understood?" Everyone stands up and bows towards her.
"Yes Queen."
A/N: Finally, answers! By the way, if the last scene seemed a bit lacking, don't worry, it was meant to be that way. Next chapter will conclude the battle of Tokyo. After that I'll rewrite a couple of the old chapters and then release new chapters. On another note, if anyone wants to write an OC about these twelve beings, he/she is welcome. Anyway, as always, suggestions, questions, corrections, reviews or PMs are greatly appreciated. Also, English isn't my native tongue, so expect some grammatical errors here and there. If you found the story interesting and had a great time, favorite and follow. Have a nice day/night and until the next chapter, stay safe!