Chapter 29

Battle of the Storm Gods

Lucy clung to a large piece of a wrecked skiff ten feet long by six feet wide, bobbing in the choppy seas like a cork. Her feet dangled in the water as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

Susan lay on the same piece of driftwood as Lucy, holding Charlene and Mayu close, keeping them from falling into the deep. Agonizing pain pounded in her shattered leg as the seawater stung her burns and the compound fracture on that leg, causing her to remain awake in a state of mild shock. She kept Mayu very close as the wreckage they sat on floated on the ever-increasing swells blown by a stiff south-southeast wind from an ominous-looking cloudbank.

Kohta, Tao, and Li Mei lay on another piece of the wrecked skiff nine feet long by seven feet wide, floating just twenty feet away from Lucy, Susan, Charlene, and Mayu. Tao, the only one awake on their piece of driftwood, held Kohta and Li Mei to keep them from slipping into the choppy sea and drowning. He too nursed moderate injuries that kept him in a moderate shock. The six broken ribs in his chest throbbed like toothaches, making breathing difficult.

Thirty feet away from Lucy bobbed Tanya and Draco, each holding on to four-foot chunks of the totaled boat. Both struggled to remain conscious, having taken a terrible beating at the Institute and from the shockwave of the nuclear overload there.

Susan saw Tao pulling Kohta closer and called out, "Is everyone okay over there?"

"As good as can be expected," Tao replied hoarsely through his pain. "Do you know how we got here? The last thing I remember is waking up several kilometers offshore of the Institute in one of the Chimera's skiffs with Kohta and Lucy pushing us as fast as they could away from the Institute with their vectors. A glowing fog of dead diclonius essences fell on us just before the Institute blew. After that, nothing until about twenty minutes ago when I woke up lying on this piece of driftwood."

"I can't say that I do," Susan replied. "I vaguely recall Lucy finding a skiff drifting several hundred meters offshore, with everyone on it dead from the King's pulse. The last thing I truly remember is seeing the glowing essences of the deceased diclonii from the mainland engulfing us in that boat just before the explosion. When I woke just a few minutes ago, like you, I found myself on this piece of the boat with all sight of land having vanished. Only the mushroom cloud north of us told me where the land was. See, it still lingers. But where we are now, I have no idea."

Tao looked north, seeing the mushroom cloud rising over the Institute and Kamakura slowly drifting northward in the wind, away from them toward the ruins of Tokyo. "Good lord," Tao breathed. "How did we escape that?"

"I have no idea," Susan replied. "But I know we should have been vaporized by that explosion, as close as we were when it went off."

"I agree," Tao stated. "We should be dead. But that aside the point right now. We're far from safe here; adrift in the largest ocean on the planet, and no one knows where we are."

"Don't worry about it," Lucy called out groggily, hearing Tao's last comment as she became conscious. "Izanami will not leave us to die on the open water. She'll bring help to us." Susan immediately helped Lucy find a better position on the driftwood raft. Lucy gritted her teeth as her aching ribs flashed with pain from the movement. When the pain subsided, she looked around, seeing where everyone else lay in respect to her. Instinct sent her vectors forth. She gathered her friends to her piece of driftwood, pulling them on their fragments of the boat to her piece of the boat. "Is everyone okay?" she asked.

"I've been better," Draco answered. "Where the hell are we, anyway?"

"Not a clue," Lucy replied, pointing to the dissipating mushroom cloud. "All I know is that the Institute is that way. How far away it is I have no idea."

Kohta moaned as he woke. "Did anyone get the license number of that aircraft carrier that ran us down?"

"No, Kohta," Tao stated, "But we somehow survived it."

A relieve look fell over Lucy's face. "Are you okay, Kohta?" she asked bluntly.

"I'm not going to be pretty, but I'll live," Kohta mumbled as his eye fell on Mayu. "Is Mayu all right?"

"Mayu's unconscious," Susan said, cradling the little girl in her arms, still wrapped up in the restraints from the Institute, minus the helmet. "She's got a bump on the head, but I think she'll be all right. Her pulse and breath are still strong and regular."

"That's a relief," Kohta said, rubbing a bloody spot on his head. "It seems she fared better than most of us."

"Is Tanya all right?" Draco asked, not seeing any signs of life from her.

Lucy reached out with a vector, pulling Tanya closer. She laid the royal down next to her on the driftwood raft, examining her.

Tanya groaned. Her eyelids flickered, and then opened. Her first view was of Lucy hovering over her. "She's alive," Lucy announced. "But she needs medical attention, more than I can give her here in my weakened state. Are you all right, Tanya?"

"What do you think, Lucy?" Tanya hissed. "I'm in so much pain I'm about to go nuts. If you have a shred of compassion in you, please do something about it."

Lucy nodded, using her vector to unhook Tanya's pain receptors. "Is that better?" she asked.

A deep sigh of relief hissed from Tanya's lips. "Thank you, Lucy. How did you become so kind?"

"Kohta, Mayu, and my friends taught me there is a better way to live than that of the Fury," Lucy stated. "You don't have to be a slave to the Fury."

"I believe you," Tanya muttered, slipping unconscious.

Lucy sighed, looking around at her friends as they bobbed in the ocean. "The problem is we're not done yet," she announced.

"But you killed the King of Furies," Draco stated. "Didn't you?"

"No," Lucy answered. "That stupid fuck, Bandoh, killed him, and in the process, ruptured the Collective. But he managed to stop it up before it could leave the Institute."

"You're kidding?" Li Mei asked, having just awakened. "Please tell me you're joking."

"She isn't joking," Kohta said grimly. "I saw it happen. Bandoh tried to plug the hole with himself. But I fear his patch isn't going to hold for long. What I suspect is that when the Institute blew, it stunned the Fury because it had a hole in it in the form of Bandoh. We must go into the Collective and finish this now."

"You're right," Lucy said coldly. "We need to go in. But we can't do it here."

"If not here, then where?" Kohta asked.

"I know where to go," Lucy said confidently. "We have a brief space to regroup while the Fury is stunned. The only problem is getting there. I don't have the strength to get us there by myself."

"Who said you were by yourself?" Charlene mumbled, awakening to considerable pain and numbness from the waist down. "By the way, can someone please shut down my pain receptors? I'm in terrible pain." Lucy nodded, using her vector to relieve Charlene's pain.

"Better?" Lucy asked.

"Much," Charlene answered with a relieved sigh. "But I think I've broken my back. I can't feel a thing below my waist. I think it happened when the King sucker punched us."

"Most likely," Kohta agreed. "We'll see about that as soon as we get out of this predicament."

"You mean if we get out of it," Draco corrected.

"You must have faith," Kohta reproved gently. "We haven't come this far to die now."

"Charlene's right about you not being alone, Lucy," Tao stated. "We're with you. And even more important, Kohta's with you. You have only to ask for our help."

Susan suddenly glimpsed a figure bobbing in the distance on a piece of driftwood. "Guys, I think I see someone else over there," she said, pointing to the west. "But I can't tell who it is."

Lucy looked, sensing a familiar, but faint signature in her diclonius telepathy. Seeing the figure, she reached out with a single vector, snatching the figure from a watery grave and pulling him to her. The moment her vector touched the figure, she gasped, knowing who it was. "Oh my god, it's Guildo!" she cried, pulling him to relative safety. Laying him on the large piece of driftwood she sat on, she noticed his badly burned state and tried to help him with her vectors.

"I thought he was dead," Kohta murmured weakly.

"So did I," Draco replied. "We thought he was a goner when that explosion overtook and separated us."

Guildo moaned as Lucy taxed her already spent strength reserves to heal him. "That's all I can do," Lucy moaned. "I'm spent."

Guildo's eyes cracked open, seeing Lucy with an exhausted, but concerned look on her face. "I'm…alive?" he whispered.

"Apparently," Lucy answered. "We thought you were killed when the core blew."

"So did I," Guildo murmured. "Dimitri pushed me into a side room when the explosion collapsed the corridor, crushing and burning him to death before I knew what happened. Not being able to follow Draco and Tanya's path, I found another way out, finding our third team's skiff adrift thirty meters offshore. I managed to start it and get some distance from the shore when this glowing fog swamped me. I became light-headed and the last thing I remember is seeing the Institute explode. The next thing I remember is seeing your face, my Queen."

"I'm glad you're still alive, Captain," Tao called out. "Apparently, you had the same thing happen to you on the water that happened to us. None of us remember how we got way out here. I suspect Izanami and the Collective may have had something to do with it."

"May be," Guildo wheezed in pain. "If it isn't too much trouble, can someone shut off my pain receptors? I'm in terrible pain."

Li Mei reached over with her vector and relieved Guildo's pain. "There, is that better?" she asked.

A deep, relieved sigh hissed from Guildo's lips. "Thank you, Li Mei," he murmured just before passing out again.

"He's one lucky son of a bitch," Draco murmured. "Apparently, he must still have a role to play in what's to come. Otherwise, Izanami would have taken him."

"Seems so," Susan replied. "But we're not out of the grinder yet."

"That's true," Lucy agreed. "But there's not much we can do about it right now."

Kohta heard a murmuring roar over the waves and wind. It slowly grew louder. "Hey, do you hear that?" he asked. He looked up, seeing the sky darkening from the storm approaching from the southeast. The clouds had an unusual scarlet tint to them, reflecting the light from the setting sun.

The ocean itself began to murmur as the wind suddenly died. Lucy frowned, sensing something dangerous at a distance. Whispers echoed from the deep, rattling the nerves of those floating on the wreckage. "Something's wrong," Lucy announced. "But I can't tell what it is or where it's coming from."

"I feel it too," Li Mei answered. "I think we're in trouble here."

Kohta became intent on the approaching storm. The clouds boiled in a way that seemed familiar to him. "What is it, Kohta?" Tao asked. "You seem distracted by that storm."

"There's something vaguely familiar with those clouds," Kohta murmured. "But I can't seem to put my finger on what it is."

"I wouldn't worry about that," Draco replied. "What does concern me is that." He pointed to the west at an unusually dark fog bank that approached them against the wind. Every so often, a glowing flash would streak through it. "That's not a normal fog bank. It's moving towards us, against the wind. When I look at it, I feel like it wants to suck my soul from my body."

All eyes turned to the strange fog bank. Dark despair fell into their souls when they saw it. "What is that?" Kohta asked, suddenly becoming terrified of the fog without adequate reason.

"I don't know," Charlene answered, her tone shaking. "I certainly don't want to find out."

"How far is it?" Lucy asked, keeping a cool head despite her rising fear. "Can anyone tell?"

"Seems to be about two kilometers away," Tao estimated. "At its present speed, it'll overrun us within twenty minutes."

A bone-rattling peal of thunder from the southeast drew everyone's attention away from the ghostly fog bank. Lightning flashed through the clouds as the edge of the storm cloud crossed their position. The sea became still as glass. The whispering from the ocean became an audible murmur. "Do you hear that?" Draco asked. "It sounds like the ocean is talking, but I cannot understand a word it's saying."

"I agree," Susan mumbled, dazed from her shock. "It's maddening. I wish they'd just shut the hell up."

"Me too; would you just please shut up!" Tao shouted at the sea.

Lucy frowned at the voices, her ire rising. "Silence!" she screamed at the voices when she could take no more. To everyone's amazement, the maddening voices rising from the deep went silent. "That's better. Now I can think," Lucy mumbled. She turned her head to the strange fog and growled, sensing a hostile intelligence behind it.

"What's the matter?" Kohta asked.

"I don't like that fog," she hissed. "It's unnatural; it may even have something to do with the Fury. We should not let it touch us."

"But how can we escape it?" Draco asked wearily. "We're adrift and wounded without the strength to fight off a direct attack from the Fury."

"I don't know," Lucy answered glumly as the fog came within a kilometer of their position. "I just know that we can't let that shit touch us."

"We just can't sit here and wait for it to get us," Draco insisted, letting his fears run free.

"What do you expect me to do?" Lucy snapped. "I'm exhausted and don't have the strength physically to keep us ahead of the fog for long."

As she was rebuking Draco, Kohta saw something strange happening between them and the fog. He blinked, rubbing his eyes, and looked again. "Guys, something's happening here," Kohta announced, pointing towards the fog. "Look!"

Once again, all eyes looked towards the fog. The water six hundred meters away from them began to bubble and churn in a line from horizon to horizon. "What the devil?" Tao cursed as a glowing fog rose out of the boiling seawater. Another peal of thunder drew their attention to the storm as it encompassed their entire 360-degree view.

Kohta looked up seeing the clouds swirling like a hurricane, churning and boiling in a maddeningly familiar way. The wind rose slightly, stirring the stagnant air. Lightning flashed from cloud to cloud. Kohta's eye turned back to the boiling sea several hundred meters from their position, feeling heat emanating from the seawater. The glowing fog rising from the boiling sea created a wall between them and the approaching dark fog. "Something strange here," Kohta declared, his irrational fear waning with the appearance of the new fog. The churning sea created a current that pushed their driftwood wrecks away from the approaching dark fog. "We're moving away from the fog," Kohta observed. "The water is moving us."

"That it is," Tao agreed. "But we're still not safe. Look!" Tao pointed to the east, to a large school of sharks approaching their position.

"Damn it!" Lucy growled. "Our blood must be attracting them."

"Everyone stay together," Kohta ordered. A low moan echoed over the sea as a face appeared in the glowing fog wall.

Li Mei saw the apparition. "Oh my god, it's Master Akira!" she cried, pointing at the face. Everyone looked, seeing the ghostly face grow a twenty-foot body.

"By the Collective," Draco breathed. "Am I delusional, or is that Akira?"

"It's a ghost!" Susan cried in terror.

"It's Akira," Lucy declared. "What do I do, Master Akira? The sharks are coming; I'm exhausted, and out of options."

Akira's ghostly face smiled and he pointed to the east, in the direction of the sharks. His smile calmed Lucy's fears and hope arose. The Ghost of Akira melted back into the glowing fog as the wind from the storm arose. A bone-rattling peal of thunder shook them as a funnel cloud formed to their west over the black fog. "The sharks are leaving!" Charlene called out over the rising wind, seeing the sharks scattering to the four winds. Rain began to sprinkle the castaways.

"Hell with the sharks," Draco retorted. "There's a tornado about to touch down where that evil fog is."

They watched the funnel cloud grow in size just beyond the wall of glowing fog. The sprinkle of rain became a downpour as the wind rose to gale force. "Hold on to whatever you can!" Lucy barked. "I'll try to keep us together with my vectors." The waves quickly rose to six feet. The tornado abruptly touched down a kilometer from them in the dark fog, becoming a monster waterspout a kilometer across. A shriek of fury echoed in their ears from the dark fog.

"My god," Kohta breathed, seeing two ghostly forms in the waterspout funnel. He blinked, wiping the water out of his eyes to make sure he was seeing true. "Lucy, do you see that, or am I going crazy?" he asked, pointing out two blurry, monstrous figures battling in the tornado; one of darkness, and the other of light.

Lucy gawked. "I do, but I'm not sure I believe what I'm seeing. It's like that dream of the beast and the angel fighting."

"It is!" Charlene cried out. "It's them! We have to get away from here or we're dead!" Lightning flashed and thunder rattled their bones with every clash they saw in the fight. The sea between them and waterspout where the glowing fog stood churned with ever-increasing violence. The bubbles pushed up the ocean water three meters in height that flowed away with greater speed. The waterspout began to draw the glowing fog into its funnel with the dark fog, sending the battle between the supernatural figures into a new level of violence. Concussion blasts began flying from the hits between what the castaways saw as two storm gods battling for supremacy.

Kohta noticed the increase in speed of the current of water moving them away from the waterspout and the clash of the storm gods within the funnel. "We're moving away," Kohta shouted over the din of the storm. "It's as if we're being pulled away from the tornado by the ocean itself. What's going on here?"

"I don't know," Susan answered. "But I feel something coming up from beneath us." She paused, and then added, "I feel live diclonius presences beneath us in the water."

Lucy gasped. "So do I. Something is coming up beneath our feet! Be on guard, everyone!"

Those who were capable of defensive measures readied themselves as the water began to rush up beneath their driftwood rafts. Moments later, a periscope broke the surface twenty meters to their east. In seconds, the conning tower of a massive submarine broke the surface, rising fifty feet before the driftwood rafts became stranded on the broad hull of the Chimera. "It's Fargo!" Charlene cried when she saw the conning tower break the surface. Everyone gawked at the aircraft carrier-sized submarine picking them up out of the water.

"Oh thank the gods!" Susan cried in stark relief as the winds rose to fifty kilometers an hour, driving the rain into stinging sheets.

Within a minute of surfacing, Fargo led Nana and a rescue team on to the deck of the Chimera. Lucy noticed the extremely relieved look on Fargo's face as he approached. "You gave us quite a scare, my Queen," he shouted over the rising tempest. "Come, let's get everyone below decks, and get the hell out of here. This storm is supernatural."

"Took you long enough, Captain," Lucy answered with a bit of sarcasm.

"We thought we'd lost you when the Institute blew," Fargo answered, helping her up as Nana went to Kohta, assisting him. The remaining members of the rescue team grabbed the other survivors and led them down into the Chimera. "But you can thank Nana for us finding you," Fargo stated, his face grimacing in the stinging rain. "Somehow, she knew exactly where to look."

"Really," Lucy replied with surprise as Fargo helped her from the deck, with them being the last to enter the Chimera. As soon as everyone got inside the airlock, a grievous hail the size of baseballs fell from the storm, driven into a lethal spray by seventy kilometer and hour winds. Lucy felt an all too human chill race down her spine. "Holy shit!" she cursed at the hail.

Fargo's mouth fell open as he saw the hail, and then the battle between the dark and light storm gods in the waterspout. "Dear god have mercy!" he breathed, touching the control that sealed the airlock. Once inside the ship, Fargo secured the hatch and said into the communicator, "Get us out of here, Chris. Lucy and her family are safely on board."

"Aye sir," Chris' voice echoed through the loudspeakers. "We are so out of here."

Lucy felt the ship dive as Fargo led her to the infirmary. The sound of the hails beating on the hull subsided into silence a few moments later. "Looks like we got to you just in time," Fargo said. "I'm certain that's no ordinary storm. I think the Collective has something to do with it, especially after seeing those two figures fighting in the waterspout. I did see that, didn't I? It looked like two storm gods going at it."

"You did, Captain," Lucy stated coolly. Then in a warmer, grateful tone, she added, "Thank you for rescuing us. We definitely wouldn't have survived had you not showed up. I had no idea what to do. I'm exhausted and wounded from our fight with the King."

As Fargo helped Lucy into the infirmary, he asked, "What happened? I felt it when the Collective ruptured. How could that happen?"

"Bandoh killed the King," Lucy hissed. "Apparently, that was the King's plan all along. He knew that he needed a hybrid to breech the Collective. When Bandoh killed him, that's exactly what happened."

"That son of a bitch!" Fargo cursed as Lucy sat down on a bed with a groan, Fargo helping her sit down. "But why did the Fury stay on the island? It felt like something was keeping it contained."

"When Bandoh realized his fuck up," Lucy continued, "he sacrificed himself to contain the King and the rupture until the core blew. Somehow, he had the power to resist the entire Fury of the Collective."

"So when the core blew, the explosion stunned the Fury," Fargo surmised.

"Apparently," Lucy stated. "But that patch he created isn't going to last long. We have a small window to take care of this problem before the Fury breaks out again. If we miss this time, we're all dead. I suspect what we just saw is just a taste of what will happen if the Collective fully breaks into this world."

"Then let's get the job done," Fargo insisted. "What do you need me to do?"

"We can't just attack the Fury from anywhere," Lucy informed. "We need to go to where Izanami went after the incident with Rayden. We need to go to the source of the Collective."

"Is there such a place?" Fargo asked. "I'd heard myths and legends about it, but figured it was just a fairy tale."

"It's no fairy tale," Lucy stated. "I know where it is now. Bring me a map and I'll show you."

"Right," Fargo said. "Can you give me a general idea of where it is so I know which chart to bring?"

"It's roughly 300 kilometers south of Tokyo," Lucy said as Dr. Quang approached with a scanner.

"I'll go get the charts," Fargo stated, leaving for the bridge.

"I'll be here," Lucy replied wearily.

Dr. Quang scanned her with a Geiger counter. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Checking to see if you received any radiation from the core explosion," the doctor replied softly. "Hmmm, it's just as I thought. You have some contamination, but it's not as bad as it could have been. Come, let's get you decontaminated. Once you're decontaminated, we'll check you for wounds."

"How do I decontaminate?" she asked.

"A good long shower," the doctor said. "Come, I'll help you."

"How's Kohta and the rest of my friends?" Lucy asked as the doctor helped her to the decontamination chambers in the infirmary.

"They're being decontaminated and treated as I speak," Dr. Quang stated as they reached a heavy door that was open. The sound of running water came from inside. Lucy hesitated at the door. "What's the matter, Lucy?" the doctor asked.

"I don't want to go in there," she stated bluntly. "This door reminds me too much of the Institute."

"Ah," Dr. Quang replied. "I understand. You fear being locked in. It's perfectly understandable. This door will remain open as long as you and your friends are in there. In fact, I'll be in there with you. We only close this door in the case of a radiation event on the sub. It's the only radiation-proof section on the Chimera."

Nana appeared in the doorway with Dr. Ravenclaw. "Lucy, you should shower and change your clothes," Dr. Ravenclaw stated. "The longer you're in contact with those contaminated clothes, the greater chance you have of radiation poisoning."

"It's okay, Lucy," Nana said. "Kohta and everyone else are in there getting cleaned up."

"Kohta, are you in there?" Lucy called out.

"Yes, Lucy," Kohta replied. "I'm getting a much needed shower as I speak. It's safe to come in here. Besides, it's not like we couldn't get out of here if we wanted to."

"She does have a point," Dr. Quang said as a nurse walked up. Turning to the nurse, he ordered, "Nurse, get Lucy and her friends a fresh change of clothes. I'm going to have to decontaminate too since I helped Lucy. Also, tell Captain Fargo he need to come in here to wash up too since he had direct contact with Lucy."

"Yes, doctor, right away," the nurse replied, heading out on a mission.

"So, shall we?" Dr. Quang asked, gesturing to the showers through the door.

"Okay," Lucy replied, sensing Dr. Ravenclaw's feelings about the unit. "Just leave the door open."

"Absolutely," Dr. Ravenclaw agreed, heading back to the showers.

Nana took Lucy by the arm, helping her to the showers. "It's all right, Lucy," Nana chimed. "These are special showers. That's why they are in here. All our friends are in here getting cleaned up."

"Okay, Nana," Lucy said softly as they reached an abandoned stall.

"The doctor says to run the water as hot as you can stand it and wash every inch of your body thoroughly to make sure the radioactive dirt doesn't stay on you," Nana stated.

"Okay," Lucy stated. "What do I do with my clothes?"

"Just toss them in that bag there," Nana said, pointing to the empty trashcan sitting just inside the dressing area of the stall.

"Thanks, Nana," Lucy said as Nana smiled while stepping out of the stall, closing the door behind her.

Lucy turned to the shower stall. "Yeah, a shower sounds good. I'm chilled to the bone from being adrift in the ocean." In seconds, she stripped and started to shower, decontaminating herself. At first, it felt very good. The hot water stimulated her blood. Then after ten minutes, she became very dizzy. "What the hell?" she growled, holding her head as everything spun. She staggered, trying to hold herself up. "Kohta, Nana…help!" she called out just as everything went black.

Mocking laughter echoed through the icy darkness that encompassed her. She looked around the cold void, not knowing which way was up, feeling everything spinning. "Ugh…stop spinning already!" she growled, holding her head.

"You cannot escape me," the disembodied voice of the King of Furies echoed in her head. "And if you think you're going to stop me from burning this planet to ashes, you're sadly mistaken and stupider than Bandoh."

The dizziness slowly ceased and she looked around, seeing the ghostly gaunt face of the King of Furies staring at her. When she saw him, her ire rose. "Still haven't learned your lesson, have you? This fight isn't over, not by a long shot. You may have gotten Bandoh to rupture the Collective for you, but you made a critical error in your plan."

"And what error would that be, bitch?" the King hissed.

"When Bandoh ruptured the Collective, he broke it where you and Izanami are in perpetual conflict," Lucy growled.

"And that means what?" the King asked coldly.

"It means that you're the stupid one," Lucy retorted. "It means that he let both sides loose on the world: your side and my side. The Fury may break out of the plug that Bandoh made, but in doing so, it's going to allow Izanami to come out as well to resist you."

The King's gaunt face darkened dramatically. "You may get out, but Izanami will get out too and we'll take your sorry ass down," Lucy growled. "Rayden will be reunited with Izanami, you will go back to that pit with your so-called brothers and sisters, and the Collective will finally be at peace with itself. Your fucking days are numbered."

"Arrogant little bitch," the King roared. "I'll make you eat those words."

"Not likely," Lucy replied as a flash of light intruded into the dark void. The King shrieked in pain, hiding his face from the light. "I have the help of an entire planet and you are alone, dumbass," Lucy crowed.

"Tell him, Lucy," Kohta crowed, standing next to Lucy in the void. Then to the King, Kohta hissed, "Get the hell out of here, you fucking prick. Leave Lucy and the rest of us alone forever, or so help me, I'll rip your dark heart out and burn it to ashes, just like you hoped to do to us. Now go!"

"This isn't over," the King hissed, vanishing into the darkness.

"You're right," Lucy agreed. "It isn't." Turning to Kohta, she said, "You came for me again. Thank you."

"How could I not?" Kohta said, putting his arm around her. "We are one. You are the Queen of the Diclonius Universe and I'm your king and lover. Come on, Lucy. It's time to wake up. We need to know where to go." With his words, he vanished with the void. The darkness warmed significantly as it lightened. Kohta's voice echoed in her ears, "Come on, Lucy, wake up. Please wake up."

With a gasp, Lucy snapped awake. Her eyes opened, seeing Kohta hovering over her with Nana. A second later, she realized that she lay in an infirmary bed wearing a plain gray dress. Moments later, she felt a snug wrap around her ribs. "Kohta," she murmured in a dazed fashion. "What happened?"

"You passed out in the shower before you finished decontaminating, so I had to help finish cleaning you up," Kohta said as Dr. Ravenclaw moved in next to the bed, scanning her with a Geiger counter. "Then we wrapped your chest. It seems you broke some ribs in the fight."

"You did a good job, Kohta," Ravenclaw congratulated. "She's clean…no contamination."

Lucy blushed. "Thank you, Kohta," she murmured, grasping his hand. "But why did I fall out like that? I suddenly got so dizzy that I couldn't stand up."

"Exhaustion and your broken ribs," Dr. Quang stated, walking up with a clipboard in hand. "You taxed yourself so deeply to save your friends that it and your wounds caught up with you in the shower. It's a level of diclonius power I've never seen exerted by anyone. The tests I've done show that you are still acclimatizing to the power levels of the Queen. If I may be so bold, your powers border on that of a goddess, if such a being were to exist."

"How long will I be wiped out by this?" Lucy asked wearily.

"I have no idea," Dr. Quang replied. "It could last hours, days, or weeks. But given your amazing ability to recover, you may surprise us again. I still can't figure out how you escaped the blast radius of the Institute without getting a lethal dose of radiation or worse."

"We may never know that," Kohta admitted. "I'm just glad that we survived."

"Amen," Nana chimed happily.

Fargo approached wearing a clean uniform, carrying a chart. "Excuse me, Lucy. But I have the navigation charts here. You said you knew where we needed to go. Can you point it out on this map?"

"I think so," Lucy said wearily. "Let me see it." Fargo unrolled the map for Lucy. He and Kohta held the map open for her. She scanned the map.

Fargo pointed to a spot thirty kilometers south of Tokyo, saying, "This is our present position, Lucy."

"Okay," she murmured. Her finger traced along the line of the Izu islands. When she reached Tori Shima, her finger drifted to the west-southwest roughly thirty kilometers. "The island is here," she said confidently. Fargo instantly marked the spot with a pencil. "The island is somewhat of a phantom island. No technology can see it and it only visible at sunset to the naked eye from the outside. Something about the makeup of the island causes it to have a natural cloaking ability."

"There's nothing there," Dr. Quang commented, looking at the map.

"Of course it isn't there," Kohta replied. "It's like she said; it's a phantom island. There are many uncharted islands in the Pacific. This is obviously one of them. The question is how long will it take for us to get there."

"At present power levels, we should make it there in roughly 12 hours," Fargo announced. "…maybe sooner if we can get the engines back to 100%."

"That'll be fine," Lucy answered with a yawn. "Kohta and I need some time to rest before we go into the Collective to finish this fight. Everyone should be on guard because I sense that Bandoh's plug will not hold for long. When it blows out, the Collective will flood the world."

"You mean the Fury will flood the world, right?" Nana asked.

"No, I mean the Collective," Lucy declared. "Apparently, when Bandoh ruptured the Collective, he did so in a spot where both the Fury and Izanami can get out. Yes, the Fury will get loose, but Izanami will also get out to resist it. The war that has gone on inside the Collective for 1700 years will spill into our world and most likely destroy it. I'm beginning to think the storm we barely escaped was a piece of the Fury and Izanami that leaked out with the initial breech before Bandoh sealed it back up. If that was just a small piece of the Collective battling for supremacy, then can you imagine what a full breech would do to our world?"

"It'll smash everything to bits and no one will be able to stop it," Fargo stated grimly.

"Exactly," Lucy replied. "But I can't be 100% sure that what we saw was a piece of the Collective."

"Makes no difference," Kohta declared. "We know Bandoh's plug won't last long, so we must be ready to stand in Bandoh's place when the time comes, to plug the hole."

"Yes," Lucy answered with a grim sigh. "If we can stop the Fury while it's still contained within the Collective, we can heal the breech and prevent it from destroying of the planet."

"Then we haven't a moment to lose," Fargo said. "If you will excuse me, I must set our course for Collective Island." He went to the bridge without another word, taking the chart with him.

"Collective Island," Ravenclaw mused. "I like that name. We finally have a place we can call home."

"I agree," Kohta murmured. "It's a crying shame that the world had to come to this in order for us to find it."

"A shame indeed," Lucy mumbled sleepily. "Can I go to my quarters now so I can get some sleep?"

"Of course," Dr. Quang said. "Kohta, you can take her back to your quarters now. Just be careful of her ribs. Don't do anything to upset them before they have time to heal, which shouldn't be too long given her accelerated healing ability."

Kohta nodded and picked up Lucy. She smiled, feeling safe in Kohta's arms. "Let's find you a soft bed." Kohta said softly.

"Wait, let me see Mayu," Lucy interjected.

"Of course," Nana said. "Follow me."

Kohta and Lucy followed Nana into another section of the infirmary where Mayu lay resting comfortably. When they entered, Mayu lay asleep with the nurses checking her vitals. "Oh, milady, Master Kohta," the nurse said with a start when she noticed Kohta holding Lucy and Nana standing next to them. "You startled me."

"How is she?" Lucy asked softly.

"Mayu's a strong girl," the nurse commented. "She's going to be just fine. But the restraints she was in caused her to lose the use of her limbs temporarily. She was in them for several days."

"Is she going to walk again?" Kohta asked.

"Of course, Master Kohta," the nurse chimed pleasantly. "Mayu just needs to get some rest, and with a little bit of physical therapy, she'll be right as rain."

"I'm glad to hear that," Lucy murmured.

Mayu moaned as her eyes opened. A broad smile crept across her face. "Lucy, Kohta…you came for me," she whispered.

"Of course we did," Kohta replied happily. "You're family."

"Thank you for saving me, Lucy," Mayu said softly. "I knew you'd come. I tried to talk that guy into letting me go and stopping his rampage, but he just wouldn't hear me. He was plum loco."

"You don't have to worry about him anymore," Lucy said severely. "We've taken care of him."

"You stop his madness?" Mayu asked.

"He's dead," Kohta answered. "Now we have to separate the King from Rayden in the Collective."

"Please be very careful when you do," Mayu begged. "Whatever that guy is, he isn't human or diclonius. I believe he may be a real demon."

"We already figured that," Lucy stated. "Now get some sleep. You've earned it."

Mayu smiled warmly. "I guess I have, haven't I? Looks like Kaeda was right. I just did what I always did, and this time, I made a real difference. Just before you come for me, I had him so mad at me that he lost control of his minions."

"Really?" Lucy asked, surprised by the revelation. "Well, you can tell us about it later. I need to go get some sleep, and so do you."

"Okay," Mayu chimed.

"And Mayu," Lucy added. "Thank you for showing me that we can live together without killing each other."

"You welcome, Lucy," Mayu murmured. With that, she drifted off to sleep again.

"Come on, Lucy," Kohta chimed. "We need to recharge before the final fight in the Collective."

"Yes," Lucy agreed. "Take me to our quarters."

"I'm going to stay here and watch over Mayu," Nana stated. Kohta nodded and left with Lucy, heading back to his and Lucy's quarters.

"You sure do have a nice family, Nana," the nurse complimented.

"That I do," Nana said. "It's the only thing that has kept us alive."

"I believe it," the nurse said as Nana sat down in a chair next to Mayu.

"Get better quickly, Mayu," Nana whispered, holding Mayu's hand as she slept.

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A/N: With the rupture of the Collective, strange events begin to unfold. The dark fog, the glowing fog, and the unnatural storm Lucy and her friends witness while adrift are just the beginning. Seems both the Fury and Izanami have escaped the Collective to wage their war on this plane. Will Lucy and her friends find Collective Island, the source of the Collective, or will Bandoh's patch on the Collective and the stunned Fury break before they do? If they find Collective Island, what will they find? Will they be able to stop the Fury permanently from there, or will it be their final resting place? Keep reading to find out. Reviews are always welcome. As always, be honest, but kind in your reviews.

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