(A/N) I do apologize for not have updated this story in a long while, but I won't let that happen again, so, enjoy this next chapter as it gets more twisted and crazier!

Ch 35 Grüßen Tod (Greet Death)

"Well Miss Arakawa," Admiral Kakuzawa said with a grin, "What brings you by my quarters so early in the morning? Is there something you want? Or is it something that you want me to do to you, am I right?" He chuckled softly, grinning down at her. The way he spoke sent chills up Arakawa's spine. This man is even more terrifying than the Director is; while the Director was blunt and straight forward, the Admiral was neither. Arakawa could not figure if you was joking or being serious, but either way, just his presence was menacing to her. On top of that, the pistol that was aimed directly at her head did not help. She could see the rifling of the barrel; its silver colored grooves spiraling deeper into the abyss of the gun. How in the world did he get to be the Admiral of the US Navy?

"No," Kakuzawa sighed almost if he was let down, "I am sure it's none of that," he bent his knees, crouching in front of the terrified women, she watched him wide eyed as he moved closer, "I wish it was something like that but no, I have a feeling you don't trust me and why not though; I wouldn't trust the person standing in front of me with a gun pointing it at my head either." He waved the gun slightly at her, giving her a toothy grin, "but this thing is here for some kindly… persuasion," Arakawa wanted nothing else but to crawl away, to create a large enough distance between her and the Admiral to where she was no longer in harm's way; he was extremely menacing and this person before her was not the same man who rescued her from the Director's troops. Though another thought aroused; what if she was able to escape him? She was aboard an American vessel none the less, so she would run into sailors, officers and other personnel long before she would even reach the closest side of the ship. Than what would come of Nozomi and Mayu? She couldn't leave them here, not with this monster. Had they only escaped one beast to fall victim to another?

"So," the Admiral extended his free hand to her, beckoning her to grasp it, "shall we go for a nice tour? There is so much to see aboard this vessel and who knows; maybe we can have a nice chat along the way." She watched his outstretched hand; the callused palms and the scarred fingers only added to his menacing aura; the scars of long ago battles and the hardships he endured to get where he is etched onto his hands forever. She sat motionless, her legs bent in front of her. Her glasses hung at the edge of her nose and lay crooked. She fared what would happen if she accepted his outstretched hand.

"You know Miss Arakawa," his smile vanished for a moment, only replaced by an equally creepy frown, "it is not polite to ignore someone who is offering you their hand. Don't forget," he waved the gun again at her, "I am the one holding all the cards here my dear." The urge to run again flooded her; her eyes widened and sweat began to run down the side of her face. Was this the true Admiral Jin Kakuzawa; a man a hundred times more terrifying than his cousin? His finger moved over the trigger and began to squeeze it slightly; there was a twinkle in his eye that made it seem like he wanted her to not take his hand; that he so desperately wanted to pull the trigger, to put a bullet in her head. He must thrive off the pain of others. Without a second thought she reached out with a shaky hand and gently grasped his. She did with the fear that the hand would attack her at the slightest provocation.

"Good," His smile returned as quickly had it vanished, he seemed to relax as he clamped down on her hand, and quickly stood up. He dragged her with him, but no sooner had she gotten to her feet, had he jabbed the barrel of the pistol into her gut, "Now let's go for a walk." That smile; Arakawa knew it would haunt her dreams for the rest of her life. That is if she survived all of this.

The infirmary room was dimly lit, but the of windowless white walls were still fairly bright as they reflected the light around just enough to keep a portion of the room with the only light on fairly lit. Hitomi stood in front of the only door into the room, but through fear and anticipation she was frozen in place; just on the other side of this thin tan infirmary curtain that separated her and the rest of the room, Dr. Nousou lay injured from a recent battle. She just only heard that he was injured and knew she had to do something.

In the hours since her encounter with her assailant, Hitomi's hair had partially come on done from its pony tail, and her eyeliner was blotched and left streaks down her cheeks from hours of crying. She had long ditched her high heels; she swayed from side to side on the balls of her bare feet as if she could fall over at any moment. She wanted this, she wanted this man dead. Feeling the cold metal of the pistol in her hand as it swung freely at her side, her hands clammy and shaking; she knew that most women in her situation never have the chance to do what she is planning nor even have neither the courage nor the strength too. Using the attack on the island, she figured she was one of the few that could.

On the curtain she could see the shadow of the infirmary bed, as well as a small figure standing next to it. Hitomi figured that the figure was none other than one Dr. Nousou's clones, so with that in mind, she figured she had one chance at revenge, one shot to satisfy her anger, to end the pain he caused her. One shot was all she needed to be able to sleep at night. Bringing the pistol up to her chest, Hitomi pulled back the slide of the pistol as silently as she could possibly do. Inhaling deeply she brought the pistol up pointing it at the shadows on the screen. She tried to hold her aim steady with slow steady breathes; but her nerves were getting the better of her and she shook violently. Her heart thumped in her ears and her breathing became sort.

"I can do this," She whispered to herself, closing her eyes she exhaled slowly "I HAVE to do this." She inhaled deeply again, relaxing just enough to get the gun to stop shaking. She opened her eyes as she gently squeezed the trigger. She flinched as she squeezed; she was anticipating the gun going off, with being hit by the recoil and the loud bang that came with it. Having never fired a gun in her life, it never occurred to Hitomi what would happen if she were to miss; she was certain she would not, especially at such a close distance. Even though she was aware of the clone, she did not even once think of what it was capable of, even being aware of how deadly it was. All the anger, the hatred, the sorrow and the self pity she felt because of Dr. Nousou was going into pulling this trigger; she did not care of what would happen.

"You see Miss Arakawa," the Admiral said as persistently jabbed the pistol in to her back, they ascended a flight of steps, "I'm not like my cousin. I don't want to destroy the human race like he does. I don't want those monsters taking over the Earth. What I do want is the preservation of the human race. I want our species to reign over the lands for centuries to come."

"How do you plan to do that?" She spoke without even realizing she did. The gun that continually jabbed and prodded at her lower back began to annoy her. Though, she realized now is a better time than any to get as much information out of him that she could.

"Glad that you asked," Arakawa imagined his smile curling up at the corners at her question. People like to gloat about their accomplishments, and future ones. With all the fear and anger eating away at her she needed to know why, and how.

"The diclonii are a mutation, a very deadly and catastrophic one at that, but as with all mutations, they must be eradicated from our great species, and the only way to do that is with your help. With your antidote to the diclonis strain you have given us a first step towards my dream; a dream where only the purest of humans will reign over this world!"

Finally the trigger pulled back to its maximum, causing the firing pin to lurch forward, slamming into back of the brass cartridge setting off the gunpowder. It ignited, creating enough force within it in an instant to punch the nine millimeter slug from the cartridge. The slug accelerated down the barrel of the gun, spiraling as it followed the bore. Exploding out the barrel, it cut through the air still following the same spin as it flew at a speed faster than sound. The bang and the concussion echoed through the infirmary. If this one shot missed, than there was nothing else Hitomi could do, it would mean the end for her.

Left, right, down a flight of steps, than up another; Arakawa had no idea where Admiral Kakuzawa was taking her. She knew only of the pistol placed firmly against her back, and a jab if she slowed down, or was walking to fast. The Admiral was in total control, leaving Arakawa feeling helpless, and scared; there was nothing that she could do but be pushed along. Through everything she still waited for the Admiral to finish what his gloating, but he had immediately stopped talking.

The light was minimal in the ship now; all white lights had been turned off, and in their place, red lights shone dimly. This created eerie shadows along the coated steel floor, as well as the squared frames of the bulkheads. They came up to a split in the corridor, and instead of Admiral Kakuzawa hinting, or even which way to turn, he pulled her left arm hard in the direction he wanted her to go. He had pulled her arms with such haste that she lost her balance. Arakawa desperately tried reaching over the wall next to her to grab something to prevent her from falling. But to no avail; there was nothing solid enough to support her as gravity took hold and she fell flat on her side. She gasped, as the air was knocked from her lungs and a pain jolted up her side starting from her knee and ending with her elbow. She could feel a sensation that resembled warm water tingled along the palm of her left hand which she used to grab for the wall.

"Up," Admiral Kakuzawa said short and sharply. She looked over at him with tears in her eyes; the pain had become immense in her leg and her glasses and flown from her face. She propped herself up and slowly and connected her gaze with his; the Admiral's smile was gone, vanished and was replaced with a frown that was only made even more terrifying in the dim red light. There was a gleam of anger and annoyance in his eyes as he took a step forward and stood over her. Arakawa stared back at him with a straight face. She wasn't doing it to intimidate him, he brought up the pistol and had it pointed at her forehead and pulled back the hammer, but because she was to terrified to look, to see, that wither or not she lived, was in the hands of a man who was twisted with power.

"Why?" Arakawa forced herself to ask, if she were to die here, she had to know why he was doing all this, thousands, maybe millions of people's lives were threatened because of this war.

"Why what?" The Admiral asked, lowering the pistol slightly. His emotionless glare made her instantly regret asking as she felt a shiver over come her and the hairs on her arms and neck stood on end.

"Why are you doing this?" she said softly. She wanted nothing more than to disappear from in front of him; to escape his gaze.

"I was wondering how long it would take you to ask why," The Admiral said calmly.

"Huh?" Arakawa was shocked by the sudden shift in the Admirals voice. She looked up, confused, as the Admiral put the hammer on the pistol back into place, clicked on the safety and proceeded to holster it. That smile of his had returned just as quickly as it had vanished.

'What is with this man?' Arakawa thought to herself as she leaned back against the wall. She could not figure him out; he went from threatening to kill her and back to being friendly faster than a blink of an eye. 'Was this all a game to him? Playing the nice card until he gets what he wants, and if it doesn't work, he threatens their lives? Maybe I shouldn't have done this; I could have stayed at the Inn and had a nice shower.'

"Come, there is something I must show you that will explain everything," The Admiral grabbed the collar of her blouse and lifted a surprised Arakawa to her feet. He gently placed his right hand against her back while he supported her up as they began to walk. The corridor was dark all along the length of it, except for a dim deep blue light at the end of it. She wondered if morning was already upon them.

There was not much Hitomi could do; she had only heard about how strong the diclonii were but never once had she ever witnessed it for herself. Not even for a moment did the thought that she would miss hitting Dr. Nousou crossed her mind, nor did the thought the clone sitting next to him would even have the capacity to intercept the lead slug in mid flight. But it happened, and faster than she could blink, the curtains surrounding Nousou suddenly were shredded into hundreds of strands; as if every individual sewn thread was pulled apart and tossed randomly into the air. A dozen invisible hands descended towards the unsuspecting Hitomi; she barely grasped the severity of the situation and realized how much danger she was in as she felt like she was being touched.

There was no pain, there was no sensation at all, but suddenly an arm, her arm, was rotating slowly in front of her. Time itself seemed to slow down as the fear over took her, her eyes widened as she saw the trail of blood and gore that followed the end of the severed arm; the gun still firmly grasped in the hand, finger just above the trigger. Without thinking she looked down at her right arm, or where it should be and saw that it was missing from just above her elbow and down. There was no indication that her arm was gone, just that it smacked on the concrete floor, splattering what little blood remained within the veins all around the clean and precise cut.

She opened her mouth to scream, and tried to take a step back, but it was too late; all the air from her lungs, and every sane thought she had vanished, pure terror over took her. And so did the clone's vectors; they grabbed at her and with what seemed like such minimal effort they threw her hard forward toward the opposite side of the room, causing Hitomi to slam into the wall hard face first into the solid wall. The diclonii did not hesitate to further her attack; she brought together all her vectors and shot them towards the barely conscious Hitomi. They impacted hard against her back, and the sound of several bones breaking underneath the pressure echoed through the room, all the breath that Hitomi had was forced out of her. The clone grabbed for Hitomi and thrashed her about; slamming her against the ceiling hard and again the sounds of bones breaking echoed the room. Suddenly the clone let go of Hitomi and let her plummet to the ground with a smack as she landed flat against the concrete floor. The clone swatted Hitomi like a fly, sending her hurtling back against the wall again. The pain was immense and so overpowering that Hitomi had lost consciousness long before she was dropped to the floor like a ragdoll.

"Was crushing every bone in her body that necessary Barbara?" Nousou looked at the Mariko clone with an expressionless gaze, "just killing her quickly would have been enough."

"Myu," Barbara tilted her head slightly as she looked over at the unconscious women as she sat hunched over against the wall; blood running from the side of her mouth and her nose, her remaining limbs were twisted in peculiar directions and many of the bones protruded from them. The once off white walls were stained red with HItomi's blood.

"Bring her over to me," Dr. Nousou said as the edges of his mouth curled up in a wicked smirk, "I want my face to be the last thing she sees before she dies,"

'This is not how I wanted to die,' Hitomi thought as she coughed harshly, blood from a collapsed long splattered the ground as she regained consciousness. Everything around her seemed to surreal and distant as breathing became harder and harder to do. On the verge of losing consciousness, something grasped her neck tightly, further complicating her breathing. She could feel whatever it was squeezing her neck as her limp body was lifted off the ground. Seeming to be floating across the room, Dr. Nousou and the clone drew closer.

"Such a beautiful specimen tarnished," He mocked, "how disappointing you have been Hitomi. I don't find it fairly amusing when one of my girls decides to fight back," He reached out at the suspended Hitomi and grabbed her bloodied chin and tilted her head towards him, "but still, I do think you are the most intriguing one though. I do think I shall keep you around for a bit longer. How does that sound?" Hitomi wanted to cry out, but she did not have the strength or even the breath to. So she let the tears run down her cheeks and mix with the blood dripping from the deep split in her forehead. She just wanted this to end, that's all she was praying for in her mind as the blurred sight of the grinning Dr. Nousou etched into her memory. The sound of a door being separated from the wall caused Hitomi to lazily shift hr gaze towards the sound. Where the door once was, a little girl with that was identical to the one that so harshly and violently tossed her around like a ragdoll stood. She could see the differences between them but regardless to Hitomi, she viewed them the same; killers.

Suddenly Hitomi felt a flood of warmth, which only lasted a second before it vanished, disappeared as did the immense pain she was in. She felt nothing as if the pain receptors throughout her body just stopped all at once. Even her mind went numb as suddenly the room around her began to tilt to one side, which she did not feel either. As she watched the girl in the doorway begin to take a step forward as her mouth formed a single syllable of a word that Hitomi could not hear. Everything began to fall but like the girl, it all seemed to be happening as if time were slowing down infinitely; there seemed to be no end. Just as it seemed that time had stopped completely, the darkest of black filled Hitomi's vision, as if all light were vanishing behind the thickest of sheets; she had one last thought, as if it broke through the silence that had filled her head, 'So this is what it is like to die alone,' than there was nothing, no last breath, not even a flicker before she slipped away, just the sudden void of eternal darkness.

"Why does he keep doing that?" Mayu sobbed as she strode through the corridors of the ship, "he always pushes me away." She ran out of the infirmary room that Bando was in after he blatantly told her to leave him alone. She couldn't help but wonder why he had stuck around so much if everything the two of them have been through meant nothing to him. She kept wondering if it was something she had done or said. She even wondered if what happened with her own family long ago still controlled what she did now.

As she rounded a corner all she wanted to do was find Miss Arakawa; she would be comforted by her. Though it was fairly obvious to Mayu that she was lost and strange yet, she had not seen a single US sailor since she stormed out of the infirmary. It was eerie as the hallways were dimly lit. Except for when she turned right down a new hallway, there was a light at the end of it. Instinctively she picked up her pace as she ran towards it.

'Maybe this is to go outside and I wonder if I will find anyone there,' she thought, 'Maybe even Miss Arakawa!' Squinting as she burst out into the bright light, it took Mayu a moment to adjust to the artificial lighting, the spot lights from the ship shone brightly. But as they adjusted, she saw two figures in front of her, and one was standing with their arms outstretched.

"This, my dear Arakawa is what I wanted to show you," The man shouted in accomplishment. Mayu barely noticed Arakawa as she looked out onto the ocean before them. The night sky was a fiery orange and jets streaked by, chasing one another, destroying their opponents in a ball of fire. She ducked when an extremely loud mechanical buzz blasted above them, it shook her to her core. Orange lines shot out into the sky and lasted for only a few seconds. Straightening back up she saw a large ship steaming alongside them only half a football field out from their own ship they were on. The ship was huge, its cannons pointed into the sky at the horizon a far distance from them. The same mechanical buzzing sounded off that ship as orange streaks shot off into the sky. There was always a constant and low roar as well as soft thumps that echoed of in the distance. Mayu watched with a mix of awe and terror at what she was seeing. Suddenly the large ship began to fall behind slightly but as soon as it did, there was a great flash, followed by a huge bone shaking boom and concussion that Mayu felt down to her very core. The blast was so fierce that it knocked her off her feet and she fell with a thud on the thick anti-slick coated steel pathway. With barely any time to recover, Mayu was hit with eight more huge concussions and blasts from that ship.

"This is my answer to everything, my way of removing the imperfections of the human race!" The man shouted with glee.

"But Admiral, war is does not end with who figures who is right or wrong, it only ends with who is left. You of all people should realize this!" Arakawa said as she regained her balance. She was thrown off her feet, not only by the concussion of the ships cannons, but also by her injured leg which did nothing to help her balance.

"But Arakawa, you are precisely right," The Admiral grinned at her, "that is my goal in all this, exterminating those who will not better the perfect human world! Only the most pure of people, the strongest and the headstrong will be the ones left standing!" The Admiral looked over his shoulder, "I am glad you could join us Mayu, isn't this such a lovely sight?"

"Kouta!" Nana shouted as she came running up what remained of the driveway that led to the Inn, and in her arms a small brown dog was, panting happily.

"Good, you found Wanta," Kouta said as he straightened his back from kneeling over the splintered and charred wood that was once their home, "Mayu would be happy."

"I wonder how they are doing though," Nana said as she crouched down to let Wanta free.

"I am sure they are fine," Kouta said through a yawn, "Sorry." It had been a long night and now since the adrenaline and the shock of what they had witnessed, the lack of sleep had finally caught up with him and he became severely drowsy.

"It's ok, I'm tired too," Nana Yawned in response, scratching Wanta behind the ears gently. They fell silent for a while, standing amongst the rubble, contemplating how things will go from here; how their family will live and if they will ever be the same again and even if Lucy would ever come back. Nana had the same thoughts; but she also wondered what her Papa would be doing now if he were still alive.

"Nana," Kouta said softly, as he tilted his head back and gazed up at the blue-gray and orange sky, at the stars that were fading with the coming of the new days' first light.

"Yes?" She said, looking over her shoulder at Kouta.

"I can't sit here and wait for Kaede to come back," His voice was shaking, "she means everything to me and I have to make sure that she will."

"What do you want to do?"

"Let's go save Kaede," Kouta dropped his gaze, and looked upon Nana with determination.

"How do you expect we do that?" Nana asked sternly.

"Maybe there is a boat or something else we can use at the beach," Kouta looked in the direction of the burning city, "we can go around downtown and find a boat than sail over to the island, we fight those people at Kaede's side and we bring her home as well as Arakawa, Nozomi and Mayu. How about it?" Nana looked back in the direction of downtown Kamakura and could see the sky was orange and red from the fires that raged through the destruction. Above them jets screamed past, their contrails creating intricate designs of twists, turns and loops as they fought each other for dominance. Sighing, Nana knew with all this that there was no point in relaxing, but maybe she could get an hour or two of sleep if she was lucky.

"Can we get some sleep first? I don't think I can make the walk back down to the beach,"

"Yes that's fine," Kouta said smiling; he was trying to keep calm from the excitement and the anticipation "I actually found some ones sheets in the rubble. They are a little burnt but they survived at least." Kouta pointed to a neatly folded pile of light blue cotton and fabric.

"After the suns up we can head down to the beach," He added as he watched Nana jump to her feet and go for the sheets. She lifted the sheets up and they came unfolded, revealing dark brown spots and holes with burnt edges. As he watched, something caught his eye; it was a small and had a reflective surface just a step away from where he was standing. Kneeling down to pick it up, he brushed some of the rubble away from it. His heart skipped a beat; it was the picture of Lucy he had on his dresser. Somehow it had survived the explosion, but not unscathed though. Half of the picture had burned away leaving only Lucy's chest and head with the green trees behind her. He was genuinely happy for the first time all night; this burnt picture was all that he needed to feel at ease.

'Hold on Kaede,' Kouta thought to himself as he lay down next to Nana 'We will get you out of there.'

"Big Sis?" Adam asked looking up at Lucy. His smile had vanished and a look of admiration filled his young face, "You're not gunna stay here with me and Daddy are you?" It barely phased Lucy how fast the moment had went from being emotional to being serious.

Lucy looked down at him and narrowed her eyes, she felt sorry for this boy, her half-brother. To be raised and brainwashed by that madman and not know how twisted he truly is.

"No," she said flatly as she wiped the tears with the back of her hand, to let him live would be nothing more than torture for him.

"Why not?" he said pushing her back, anger and tears filled his eyes.

"You wouldn't understand," Lucy become on edge as Adam became more persistent.

"But Father promised me that you would," He said raising a hand and pointing it at Lucy, "he said that he would convince you to stay with us, he promised me that!" Lucy watched him as he became even more furious, she began to pity this boy and hate the Director even more.

"Even with all the others like us are saying to let you go," he stood against the door and spread out his arms as if to stop Lucy, "I won't let you! You HAVE to stay! I'll hurt you if you don't!"

Lucy sighed and closed her eyes, how fast this boy turned from being someone so caring to someone willing to harm another to get his way. This boy truly is the Directors son. As unfortunate as it is, to Lucy there was nothing in this world that would stop her from getting back to Kouta, for correcting her idiotic decree of protecting others on her own, while she put her own flesh and blood in harm's way as well as left the unborn child's father to fend for himself. If Adam wanted to present himself as an obstacle, than he just had to be removed as being one.

"I'm sorry Adam," Lucy opened her eyes slightly and gazed at the boy blankly, "you deserve a better life than the one you have been given, and if things were different, I would come to love you as a brother as a sister should." As she extended her vectors towards Adam, she felt a surge of power, an energy that she could not explain. A voice in the back of her mind was saying that everything here had to be erased, to be cleansed.

"Fine!" Adam shouted in anger, his eyes glowing as he too extended vectors towards Lucy. But they were no match for hers; they were to slow and he was very inexperienced. Lucy was easily able to dodge his, as well as block them from doing any harm at all. With one finally sweep with a single vector, the untrained boys head was severed, a short spurt of blood shot out from where the head was just seconds before. She did not regret what she had done, she only felt pity for the boy and extreme hatred towards the man who was his father, the director had to die. She was still holding up the severed head of her half brother when suddenly the bulkhead door in front of her slid open and in the now open hallway before her, several dozen armed soldiers stood, their large caliber rifles were up and at the ready, their fingers hovering just above the triggers.

"You are all in my way," she spoke sharply, glaring at them, "so, if you value your life turn around now and leave, if you don't you will die." No one moved but she could see in the dim light that they were terrified and for a good reason too. A few of them took a step forward and the hum of their weapons charging filled the corridor.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She yelled at the top of her lungs, she wanted nothing more than that, to be left alone so she could return to the Inn, to be in Kouta's arms as they waited out the remaining months for their child to arrive. But she couldn't just yet and this flooded Lucy with anticipation, with fear and want. With all the strength she could muster, she launched her vectors at the soldiers. The walls crumbled and the stone floor split as the invisible arms, with their hands open wide, ascended on the soldiers, there was one for each one of them as well as hundreds more that drove into every corner of the corridor around her. Her eyes shining a brilliant red that pierced through the light; her horns that protruded from the side of her head grew a few inches larger. Every emotion, amplified by both her pregnancy and the other diclonii around her, and fueled by her own feelings, flowed through her and into every single vector that sprouted from her as they erupted in every direction. The only thing left of the soldiers was a splatter of gore and equipment as if each one instantaneously had an explosive go off within them.