Chapter XXXVI: The Rope Snaps

Dominick stood in front of the rubble that was the back half of Capsule Corp. Chonie had returned home.

"Thirteen had asked me to leave the house for a while once he woke up, so I did. I trusted him. He looked really serious." Chonie told Dominick.

"Do you know what happened to Martin?" He asked her.

"I guess I was gone by the time he got back, so I don't know."

"Were you able to save the results of the scan?"

She shook her head. "But I remember what they read." She added. "It said everything was normal. I would know, because if they weren't normal, I wouldn't be able to decipher them."

"That's what I feared." Dominick said. "That means Thirteen really did betray us."

"No, that's impossible." He retorted. "I've known him for years now. He's not like that."

"You're defending the man that destroyed your house?"

"Something was wrong with him." She said, almost like she was pleading. "He wasn't the same. It had to be someone else. There has to be someone controlling him." She was on the verge of tears.

"Chonie…" Dominick started. "You love him, don't you?"

Suddenly, she became defensive. "So what if he's an Android?! At first, he was so distant and dreamy, and then I got to know him, and I saw the kind side of him, and I wanted to know more...I wanted to get him to reveal his problems to me, so I could fix them for him. He is just too precious...and so cool.

Dominick just kept looking at her as she talked. Sounds more like infatuation. But nonetheless, it doesn't change the fact that she doesn't want him to be like this. "I never said anything was wrong with it. It's just all the more reason I have to save them. I have to save them all."

He rested his hand on his sword while her eyes lit up at his proclamation. "...Thank you."

"I think I have an idea of where they are." Dominick muttered to himself before turning around to take off.

"Wait." Chonie said. Dominick paused. "I'm sorry if I led you on. I just didn't want anyone to know how I felt about Thirteen. I was scared you guys would hate me."

Dominick's eyes just about rolled back far enough to look at his brain. This woman… He turned around and put his hand gently on her head. "Don't worry. I'll save them all. I'll bring Thirteen back to you." Somehow, he couldn't look her in the eye when he said it. He wasn't lying to her...was he?" He ruffled his hand around in her hair, messing it all up. Before she could get angry, he had already taken off.

As he flew east, he her call, "Wait, you aren't allowed to do that, I'm basically a whole decade older than you!" He smiled.

Dalton sighed as he felt his power increase yet again. He would never get used to that feeling of cold and warmth at the same time.

"Stay here." Hotokira said to both Dalton and Thirteen. "I'll be back soon." He flew west into the outskirts of the nearby town.

Waiting behind a gas station for him was Hangyaku. "I am ready to hear some good news, Hotokira." He said.

The Black Sclera smiled. "I'll have him by the end of the day. All of the preparations have been made."

"You had better be right. I even went through the trouble of telling Dominick where you guys are." Hangyaku responded. "At least...he should be able to figure it out from the information in those dreams I induced."

"He isn't stupid."

"It's hard to believe this phase is almost over already. This is the day we've been planning for fourteen years now."

"Yes."

"Honestly, I've been really bored, with all of this waiting around. I just want to be able to fight already." Hangyaku murmured.

Hotokira was a little taken aback. This was a side of his creator that he had never seen before. He was used to the cold, calm, and collected atmosphere his master put off. Today was different. It was more eager. It was if Hangyaku was on the edge of his seat, acting almost naive, in a sense. What's holding him back? If he wants to do this himself, he most definitely has the power to do so.

"You should return, then, if you have everything ready." Hangyaku said. "It shouldn't be too long before Dominick gets there."

Hotokira nodded and flew back into the desert where Dalton and Thirteen were watching over Martin. Upon landing, he noticed Martin's glaring eyes burning into him. "You're awake, I see."

Martin smirked. "We're sitting here waiting for nothing." He said. "I told Dominick that it was a trap and not to come after us."

Dalton laughed. "I'll say it again, you must have no idea who it is we're talking about. Dominick would be the first one out of any of us to spring an obvious trap." Thirteen nodded in agreement.

"He is coming." Hotokira said. Martin snarled and flexed his muscles while trying to break out of his confinements. "It's no use trying to break out."

"He's tried three times already." Dalton told him.

"Let him be. He can struggle all he wants." Hotokira replied. Suddenly, he drew his sword and slashed at the air, cutting an energy ball in half that had been fired from the sky.

"I knew you would be here." Dominick called. He saw Martin in the purple chains and grimaced. It was real.

"I had faith you would be able to find us from the dream." Hotokira responded.

"So it was you." Dominick said as he descended to the ground. "I've had enough of your games. I'm going to end this, once and for all."

"You're naive, Dominick." The Black Sclera responded. "For you to think you can best me is beyond childish."

"How can you say you're stronger than me? If we're the same person, we should be the same strength." Dominick retorted.

"It's not that simple, Dominick." Martin called from his chains. "He was created from someone else and put in your body, and he has his creator's power as well. I told you not to come..!"

"You mean...the Black Sclera is artificial?"

"That's right." Hotokira said. "And even if by some miracle you manage to defeat me, Hangyaku is much stronger than all of us here combined."

Dominick clicked his tongue. After some thought he finally spoke. "Regardless, I have to defeat you and save my friends and family."

"Save them? Please. They have been saved." Hotokira sneered. "What were the results of Thirteen's brain scan? They were normal, right?" He smiled. "The only thing I changed in them was the strength of their deepest desires. In other words, those desires already existed in them from the start. I simply helped them out by giving them a means to achieve that desire."

"You're lying!" Dominick yelled.

"Any changes you can see in your friends were made by themselves." Hotokira said. "You never had any true comrades. They hung around you because you helped them become powerful. I only offered more than what you did."

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Dominick screamed, his energy splashing out as he turned into a Super Saiyan 5.

Remaining completely unfazed, Hotokira added, "Unfortunately, I won't be the one you fight. You see, I have to be at peak strength if I want to get your body back." As if on cue, Dalton and Thirteen jumped between the two of them. "Remember not to kill him, you two. But don't hold back, either. He is likely stronger than both of you, so do be careful not to die. I will watch over our prisoner in the meantime."

"Please, Dalton, Thirteen, get out of the way. I have to kill him." Dominick said, half commanding and half pleading. "I don't want to hurt you guys."

"We no longer need your help, Dominick." Thirteen said. "This is the only path for us to take to reach our goals."

"He's manipulating you into thinking that, can't you see?!" Dominick cried. "HE'S EVIL! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE GOOD SIDE!"

"YOU'RE THE EVIL ONE!" Dalton bellowed suddenly. "You killed our father, and you killed Sakumi's best friend. Hotokira has given me the means to protect those who are precious to me, which is something I never found on your side."

Dominick felt like his stomach was twisting after every word his brother spoke. To have his own brother berate him and tell him he was evil was more painful that he had thought. The two had been through so much together. They were separated once, and then found each other again as if it was the work of something bigger. It couldn't end like this. "What are you saying…" Dominick started again. "IT WAS HIM! IT WAS THE BLACK SCLERA! HE'S RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THIS, SO TELL ME! TELL ME WHY YOU BETRAYED ME!"

"Woah, woah." Hotokira laughed. "Don't blame this on me. This whole time, I've just been struggling to get my own body." This was part of his manipulation. Everything he said was calculated. "If anything, I was the victim. You only used my power, and I got nothing in return. I'm just doing all of this so I can be an individual myself." His smile grew more sinister the more he spoke, and Dominick was the only one to see it. "And don't forget, my actions were only based in your anger. You are responsible for Katsu's and your father's deaths."

Dominick's hatred toward Hotokira was being translated into energy. He began walking toward the four of them, his power rising with each step. As his power grew, he could feel the atmosphere around him growing hotter. He could feel the heat that he was giving off himself. "You...have manipulated my family for far too long. I will avenge my father...and save the rest of my family...by killing you here!"

Hotokira just smiled as Dominick grew closer. Thirteen stepped forward and got into a fighting stance, but Dalton stuck his sword out sideways in front of the android's throat before he could progress any further. Thirteen looked at him in confusion, but Dalton only glared straight ahead at his brother. "I will take him. Alone."

Hotokira shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care how you guys take him on. Just as long as I get his body back in the end."

"I wasn't asking for your permission." Dalton snapped. "I am grateful for the power you have granted me, but I am done working for you. Everything I have done until now has led me to this point. Once I am done here, I am taking Sakumi and we're running away together."

Hotokira was not surprised. "I guess I knew that already from the start. It matters not. We may have different goals, but defeating Dominick will benefit the both of us."

Dalton looked back at Hotokira as his body and his sword slowly grew red hot and flames began to escape. "No." He said. "I plan to kill him." Then he turned to Thirteen. "And if you try to interfere, I won't hesitate to kill you."

Thirteen looked back at Hotokira, and Hotokir returned a look that said, let it be.

Dalton lowered his sword and approached Dominick. Dominick instinctively drew his sword, and hated himself for doing so. Dalton's sword, already red hot, suddenly erupted in flames and his power began to rise extremely fast, and with it, the tension between the two.

Dalton pointed the tip of his sword at Dominick's face. "I have waited a long time for this."