Hailstorm
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"Ah, you're up." A voice raised me from my half-asleep state and I sat up with little trouble to look around. My head was aching like made, my whole body felt sore and shaky. Around me was the medical bay and nearby on a stool C was sitting and sewing.
Is... she repairing my clothes?
That's... awkward...
"If your looking for the tablet, it's on the right side of the bed, in the upper drawer of the desk." She commented without looking up from her work. A smirk was plastered on her face, which annoyed me.
"You've got questions, I presume."
-What happened?- I typed my question after finding the gadget.
-Tell me straight, please.-
"Please?." The pale girl laughed momentarily, then I could feel her becoming serious.
"Sure." She put down the cloth that she was working on, it was my pants.
"Alisa broke down, Lindow is probably dead, Sakuya is grieving, Soma is as usual a jerk, Kota is uncharacteristically depressed and you were buried under a part of the falling building."
-How?- It took me minutes to swallow all that, even then I couldn't believe such a thing happening. So I just pressed onward, after all there was someone in front of me who probably knew the answers.
-Tell me!- I demanded, but the girl just coldly snorted in disdain.
"We couldn't put all the pieces together but this is for sure." C stood up and walked to my bed and put the pants to where the rest of my clothes were.
"Alisa is mentally unstable and it came out during that mission while she and Lindow was busy fighting a Prithvi Mata."
-The... Vajra?-
"They've been classified as a subspecies of a Vajra, Prithvi Mata." The pale girl explained.
-What happened? All I know that she was muttering in her own language about her parents and that the ceiling collapsed trapping Lindow with that Pri... something.-
"A mutated Vajra killed her parents when she was a child. How she survived... is a mystery. But that was her goal to becoming a God Eater, to get revenge on that Aragami." C snickered to herself.
"Pathetic girl." She shook her head in disapproval.
"Alisa didn't care what happens to her and she rushed into becoming one of the first New-Types. That left her mind in tatters and had to regularly take medications."
-Medications?- I wondered, then recalled how she was taking some pills during the mission versus that mutant Chi-You.
-Those pills?-
"Well, seems like she had forgotten to bring them with her and in a crucial moment she misfired. The result is Lindow's death."
-He can't be dead!- I stared at C, who just shrugged with a smirk.
-Lindow killed an Ouroboros alone!- I felt irritated, this didn't make sense. He was way too strong to just die like this.
-He couldn't die to something like that!-
"He's not coming back." The pale girl then snickered.
"Besides, where did you get the idea that Lindow managed to kill the Ouro alone?"
-Are you implying that...?- I stared at her, but she was still snickering.
-You helped him? Why?-
"Because the bonus of killing an Ouroboros alone is more than you would think. I just took my share out of that as a compensation."
"Well, anyways his time was up."
That hit me then.
She knew! Didn't she?!
C was constantly making hints at something big was coming!
THIS FREAKING BRAT KNEW SOMETHING AND DIDN'T HELP?!
C's mouth formed an 'o' as I stood up and practically charged her. With my left hand I've slammed the girl into the wall and raised my right to strike. I knew from before hand that If I will, I can hit so hard that it breaks my right arm and feel no pain from it. Which was my intention.
You freaking bastard!
My clenched fist slammed into her gut, expelling the air from inside. To be follow-ed up by a second one, then a third. When I saw that she was only smirking to that as a response, I lost my cool completely. I pulled back my right and slammed my elbow into her face hard enough, that the wall gave her the pair of that blow.
WHY?!
C started to laugh, despite my pummeling and my elbow smashed onto her head once again. I heard a small crack and noticed that in her mask a small fracture appeared. My mind wasn't clear any more so I let go of her, letting the girl slump to the ground when I brought my right knee up and slammed it into her chin.
FREAKING EXPLAIN WHY!
As she lost her balance, I sent a jab at her face knocking the girl to the ground. When C fell down, I didn't hesitate to kick her face with all my strength. She managed to survive being kicked around by Soma, so I didn't think twice to follow it up with another two.
STOP LAUGHING DAMMIT!
"Care to explain what is going on?" Soma questioned us, I didn't even notice when did he enter the room. Although, it wasn't that hard to notice something is going on with C's laughing and the sound of my trying to kick the crap out of her.
"I'm just letting Sierra went some superfluous stress." The pale girl replied and that ticked me really off, because seemingly hits and kicks didn't even faze her. I changed tactic and flipped her on her stomach and twisted her hands behind her back.
"You're a mazochist." The dark skinned God Eater sighed, seeing my weird struggle with the unresisting girl.
"For that I would have to first feel pain, don't you think Moonboy?" She snickered which made me even more furious.
"Besides, if this helps her calm down, then let Sierra do it."
How's this for a change, huh?
"I see." Soma commented, seeing the newest trick up my sleeve.
"So you're letting her bite your fingers off is all part of your plan?"
Aw, did you have to tell her that?
"What?!" C tried to break free, but couldn't. I grinned. Probably madly as I tried my hardest to close my jaw and remove one of the finger of the pale girl.
"Stop that Sierra!" She sounded worried for some reason, but that just fueled my resolve even more.
"Help me dammit!"
Can't you wait some more?! It's just a tiny finger, all I want.
"Right." Soma then stepped in and peeled me off the girl, albeit I still did my best to bite the finger off.
"What are you, a dog to get lock-jaw?" The God Eater sighed and forced my mouth open by applying force on my jaws.
"Didn't you learn not to put weird things in your mouth?"
Shut up!
I glared back and met with an even fiercer glare in return. I've grabbed the tablet from the bed and furiously typed away, but it didn't respond. I tried again, but nothing.
What is going on?
"Sierra." I heard C's voice, sounding serious and that kind of terrified me.
"There is always a price to pay for your actions, even if you didn't knew about them." With that she swiped with her healthy hand the earpiece from the side of the table and crushed it in her palm.
"Néha jobb a tudatlanság." She said in a language that I didn't understand at all, then she left the room leaving me with Soma alone.
What did she just say?
"What did she do to you to get so mad?" Soma turned away facing the door.
"You can answer after getting dressed."
I looked at myself, but didn't care that I was in just underwear. Compared to some other girls at the branch, I was flat like a board anyways, so he couldn't have seen much either ways. Still fuming mad, I've thrown my clothes on and grabbed the tablet. I could still write, but the voice module no longer functioned.
Did she just punish me for attacking her?
Despite claiming to endure, she went ahead and retaliated...
I swear, I'll kill that little bastard one of these days.
-C knew about the mission.- I typed and showed the God Eater the message.
-I lost my cool when she admitted, that Lindow wasn't useful to her anymore.-
"I see, so that is why she made the deadline with the card." Soma then frowned.
"However, I still don't see how such an Aragami could have taken down Lindow." He admitted.
"Sure, he was in a bad situation trapped in an unstable building, but he survived even more dangerous events."
-That brat claimed that she helped out Lindow, because she could then claim the immense bonus that comes with performing a solo on such tasks.- I shared that info.
-With the Ouroboros and probably more of such caliber missions.-
"I see." The God Eater nodded in acknowledgement.
"I had a doubt that Lindow couldn't have scored alone such feats. But to think that the help he had, was from such a greedy bastard..."
-Soma.- I wanted to ask what happened, but couldn't. However even with that he did understand it.
"Currently it looks like Alisa went berserk and damaged Lindow in her uncontrollable state along with trapping him inside the cathedral hall. She's not waking up for the moment, although they are trying." He took an angry breath, clenching his fists.
"That idiot, going and dying just like that..."
-How, did we manage to escape? Those Aragami were unlike anything we had seen.-
"That is a mystery to us even." He admitted, his gaze turning darker as he started to remember.
"A part of the entrance ceiling collapsed and buried both you and Alisa underneath it. Kota was trying to snap Sakuya out of her stunned grief and I had my hands full trying to stop the Prithvi Mata from swarming us." Soma then looked up and seemed like even now he was at a loss.
"Then they just backed away."
-Just like that?- I couldn't believe it. That made no sense at all.
"Hibari did report another fluctuation of the abnormal Oracle reaction and pointed out that it's not going to last long." Soma said, but seemingly there was something else in the matter. I didn't know why, but it felt like he was holding back something.
"At first we thought that C is helping us again, but that wasn't the case as we saw the real cause."
-What was it?-
"Another mutated Vajra." He sighed, recalling the Aragami.
"It was the Dyaus Pita..."
-Another mutation?- I typed and he seemed lost for a bit.
-How come there are so much mutations?-
"The Pita is different for many reasons. But now it's not the time for that, come let's go see the old man." He stood up and walked out of the room with me in tow. Just across my room was another, with a note saying 'No visitors'.
That is probably Alisa's room then.
"Wait here." Soma told me as he went into Doctor Sakaki's lab, I soon heard that they started up a conversation and at then I realized. I don't have the 'easy way' with the translator anymore. C gave it to me and now took it.
Maybe I shouldn't have lost my head like that...
But, if she just threw Lindow to the side after helping him for so long, who can tell that she won't do the same for me?
What do they have in common? Lindow, C, those mutated Vajra's...
"Dead Beat!" Soma jerked me out of my thoughts as he called for me.
"We've got a mission to do."
Already?! But, I...
"If you don't feel up to it, we can start simulation." He offered and I immediately shook my head in decline.
Yay for mission!
"Good, get your gear checked and wait for me downstairs."
I felt relieved when the heli finally left the Den. I didn't have a translator any more, but apparently no one wanted to talk really. Everyone was struck down hard by the fact that Lindow isn't with us any more. I, actually didn't mind that there was this mission to distract me. Even if it was only me and Soma.
"Listen up Dead Beat." He started and I grimaced at the dub.
"You know about that the Aragami started to act strange and develop new habits, right?" I nodded at his inquisition, so he continued.
"There are signs in this area that the Ogretails have been developing differently."
Ogretails? Like that mutated one?
"We're here to measure what is going on and return with samples." Soma saw my frightened expression, but still continued.
"What's more troublesome is that after the smaller ones, the other Aragami will definitely start changing." I stood there thinking about that. There were already a couple of weirdly behaving Aragami out there.
"Because of this Fenrir insists of getting as much sample of the changed small ones first before the bigger ones start to pop up."
Makes sense.
"Since you're still not completely recovered, I'll be going in first. Once I deem the situation safe enough, you'll be the one to clean up."
Why couldn't you just, I don't know... clean up everything?
"Did you really want to bite off that bastards finger?" He asked, catching me completely off guard. I nodded my head slowly and he just shook his head.
"What were you thinking?"
Nothing? I mean I was mad like... Hell mad.
"You're only luck is that bastard didn't retaliate and let you do as you please." Soma snorted coldly.
"She only took what had been given to you, nothing more."
... All right, all right... I messed up, but she was still a bastard. C got what she deserved only.
"Right, we're landing so get your belongings." He ordered shortly before landing on the mountainside. I looked around and found traces of various Aragami in the building snow around us. Visibility wasn't much, thanks to the clouded night and the slightly blowing wind stirring up the fine powdered snow layer.
"Somethings not right." Soma commented as he stood still after exiting the heli with me.
"Hibari!" He called, then asked something from the Operator in japanese. I frowned when he started to move in a direction.
"Come, Dead Beat. The signal isn't clear enough, but our targets should be nearby."
I sighed, then walked after him up the slope. Much of the area was consumed already, it didn't matter if it was rock, snow, ice or anything else. That made me remember the lessons of the professor, about how the Aragami take in anything and everything, while trying to evolve and get better in their said environment.
"We found them." Soma noted, and he signaled to me to come closer. I followed and peered over his side.
Eh, that's not that bad. Was kind of expecting something like the Cocoon Tail to be honest.
There were three Ogretails feasting on the remains of a Cocoon Maiden. However they were different in color. The head, tail and body was a dark grey color. The eyes turned from the original green to an orange, while the fur on its back became white from the original orange.
They just look like color-swapped versions. I mean, didn't old games do that frequently?
Soma gritted his teeth, then I noticed the power around his God Arc started to gather. I put my hand on his shoulder and he looked to me, I shook my head and started walking towards the changed Ogretails. I held Chupacabra at my side lazily. Then started to concentrate on my targets in front of me.
The three Ogretails were all facing away from me, busy munching down the remains of their victim. I still was mad at C, for what she had done and now I found a true way to channel my anger. I grit my teeth so hard, my jaw started aching. To be honest, I wasn't surprised when inside me the blood lust started to swell and fill me in mere moment.
Oh yea, time to kick some ass!
I almost collapsed on the ground, but managed to stand lurching when I felt my insides spasm suddenly. But it wasn't only my insides, my right arm that I didn't feel ever since the incident with the Cocoon Tail suddenly came alive. Pain rushed through it, amplifying the one already coursing through my body.
It didn't last long, maybe a dozen seconds or so. The pain as abruptly it came, broke up with a blood churning scream originating from my God Arc. All three Aragami suddenly turned around to face me, but I just stared right at them waiting to move. I was still a bit dazed about this sudden event, of the feeling returning to my right arm also of Chupacabra once again being alive.
Come and get me, monsters!
With a vicious grimace, or at least I hoped it was like that I lurched forward towards the three. One of them decided to jump back, while one pounced at me. I quickly stepped to the side and faced the last remaining one, which only roared. I rammed my God Arc into the body of that one, then I felt a strong urge to let my God Arc transform.
Wait, if Chupacabra screams... Then...
My grimace turned into a grin as I reached for the handle and initiated the transformation process. The God Arc, still embedded into the Ogretail jarred, which caused it to howl in pain and fell to the ground. I felt the rush, the one you can only get if your God Arc tears a part of an Aragami and devours it.
I took a look at my God Arc, which had once again took up a form similar to that of a regular God Eaters devourer form. The only thing missing were the eyes of said bestial form, but mines had grown teeth instead. My God Arc radiated a slightly pulsing energy, indicating that the Oracle Cells in it were overcharged.
Burst, I've missed this so much.
I've leaped back, to avoid a volley of spikes flinged towards me. Then I looked around, the one who attacked me from range was right in front of me with the one being damaged still lying on the ground. I couldn't see the last one, but a roar alerted me of its presence from my sides. With a quick step towards the prone Ogretail, I avoided a bite and rammed my God Arc into the body of the fallen.
That core was shattered and one Ogretail stopped moving. Now there were only two, but they had kept to two of my opposite sides for the moment. Which meant I'll have to deal with the one in front ASAP, then move onto the final one. When the one in front of me tried to leap away, I made a quick swiping attack and bit onto the leg of the Ogretail.
It resulted with both of us landing in the snowy area, while my Burst was refreshed it still left me vulnerable to the incoming threat from behind. But it was swept away by a powerful force of attack, composed of purplish and black Oracle Cells, released from Soma's God Arc.
"I knew you can't be left alone for even a minute, Dead Beat." He muttered as he ripped the core of the Aragamis body, that was halfway fragmented by his charged attack.
"Take care of that one." He walked over to the one taken down initially and ripped the damaged core from that as well.
I stood up and took a look at the Ogretail in front of me. It was unable to stand up apparently, my God Arcs predation made sure of that, but it wasn't enough to kill it. At that point I felt a strange hunger and grinned.
Time to eat then.
As I lifted my weapon high, I could feel it grow just as hungry as I was. Which was rather, shocking. But didn't care much about it, as I brought it down to devour the core of the fallen Ogretail. I felt the resistance as my Chupacabra clamped around the core of the beast and steeled myself for the pain about to come, as I ripped it out of the body.
However the pain never happened. I felt great, as the burst was refreshed once again and looked with interest as my God Arc munched away the core of the Ogretail. Soma walked to me and saw that happen too, but didn't say a word until the remaining fragments were gone.
"Let's return, Dead Beat."