What Once Was (A Steins;Gate 0 Story)
Chapter 37-Deja Vu
Disclaimer:I don't own Steins;Gate, only this story...
This wasn't supposed to happen like this. How could this happen? Okabe could only look on in horror, as once again, his chance at happiness was snatched away from him, shattering his life into a million pieces. Kurisu's body fell to the floor, having died instantaneously from the shot to her temple. He ran to her fallen form and held her in his arms, crying out in anguish, yelling so loud that it could be heard in the clouds. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAggggh!"
Leskinen shrugged, not caring in the least. "Oh well, that's the end of it. I told you that I would do it, and I did."
Maho couldn't believe that the Professor would do something like this, and it had rendered her speechless. Okabe got back up after letting all of his frustration out in that scream, seeing only red in his vision.
"You'll pay for this, Leskinen!" He growled, planning to murder him in retaliation. It wasn't something he would normally consider, but he had had enough of all of this, and he could make an exception just this once. The man charged toward Leskinen in blind rage, but before he could even reach him, a second shot was fired, and Okabe fell to the floor. He landed next to Kurisu's body. He could feel his life fading, but as he closed his eyes in preparation for death, something miraculous happened.
"Okabe! Okabe! Snap out of it!" Maho had grabbed onto his sides and was shaking him back and forth.
When he came to his senses and opened his eyes, he was standing in the same spot as before, but for some reason, Leskinen and Kurisu were nowhere to be found. "What happened?" Okabe wondered, confusion taking over his features.
"I was about to ask YOU that. After we erased Amadeus, you just sort of spaced out for some reason. You were even screaming, so I was trying to help you. Are you okay?" Maho was concerned, after seeing such a display. Maybe she had made a mistake, and he was some kind of crazy axe murderer after all. Should she be concerned for her own safety? She pushed the thought out of her mind for the moment.
"I-I think so. I must have been daydreaming." Okabe concluded, trying to piece together what was going on.
"What was it about? Because to me, it sure sounded like you were being murdered." Maho laughed, intending it to be a joke.
"Funny, that's what it felt like, too. Was that some kind of vision? A warning of what was to come, so that I could prevent it?" Okabe wasn't sure exactly what had just happened, but as silly as the thought was, he couldn't help but feel like the Universe had given him a second chance. After everything he had been through, and the struggles he had endured, perhaps he had earned its respect. It was a nice thought to think that it had given him a freebie for once, and to finally have a break from all of the bad things that have been happening. He wasn't sure when that event was going to occur, but at least now he would expect it.
When she saw how serious Okabe was being, she began to feel uncomfortable. She was expecting to at least get a chuckle from him, but all he did was stare at her, nonplussed. In the awkward silence that she hadn't meant to create, she realized that she had hit the nail right on the head. Suddenly, the floor seemed very interesting to her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know." She spoke up, quietly.
"It's fine." Okabe assured, causing her to straighten up at his words. She was just glad that she hadn't made him mad, by making a joke out of his misfortune.
Immediately after their exchange, the event that he was waiting for began.
"Okabe! I ran into some trouble. Help me!" The voice of his beloved rang out loud and clear inside his mind.
"You really shouldn't have done that. I was going to use this girl I have as a bargaining chip, but what use do I have for her now? I might as well kill her." Leskinen said, containing no emotion in his voice. It was obvious that he didn't care whether she lived or died.
Okabe knew that he would make good on his threat, and how it would end. After disposing of Okabe and Kurisu, he would probably kill Maho as well, so that there would be no witnesses. The former mad scientist had to do something, but he didn't know what. Leskinen was in the same position as before, holding Kurisu with one arm and pressing the gun against her temple with the other. Okabe turned around in a similar manner to the vision, but this time, he wasn't looking on in horror. This time he was glaring at him in defiance, and pure hatred.
Maho was looking on in horror, never having imagined that this was a possibility. "Professor! How could you do this to Kurisu! Let her go, right now!" She tried to move towards him, but Okabe held her back, shaking his head.
"He's right, you know. If either of you tries to stop me than I might just kill you both as a bonus." His finger curled around the trigger, tightening in preparation to fire the pistol in his hand. There was no point in holding her hostage when the other side had nothing to bargain with. If they had nothing that he wanted, then he would eliminate the person that they wanted.
"Wait! Please stop! What is it that you want, Leskinen? I'll give you anything, as long as you don't hurt her!" Okabe pleaded, desperate to delay her death. He had just lost the other Kurisu, and he wasn't about to lose the real one. If she were killed this time, then there would be nothing he could do, so he had no choice but to stop it.
Leskinen thought about it for a moment, trying to think of anything else that he might want. A demonic smile stretched across his face, brought on by the idea that he had just gotten. It looked exactly like the slasher smile that he had made back when he had originally killed her during the loop. "This might be a long shot, but if you have it, then I would gladly trade this girl for it. The only thing I'll accept from you is Makise Kurisu's time travel thesis! If you give that to me, then I'll let her keep her worthless life."
"What do I do? It's not like I have that with me! And even if I did, I can't possibly give it to him! It would seem that no matter what path I choose, I will still lose. If I give it to him, then World War III will happen. If I don't give it to him, then Kurisu will be dead. Everything I've worked so hard for will be stripped away from me, and nothing I do can prevent it!" Okabe was lost in his thoughts, not able to see any way out of it.
Kurisu was currently unable to speak due to the fact that Leskinen's grip on her was tight enough to block her windpipe. The amount of air that she was receiving was barely enough to keep her conscious. Darkness was encroaching on the corners of her vision, slowly expanding to cover it completely. She struggled to focus through the dense fog that was beginning to take over her mind. Her time was limited, and she wanted to get a message to Okabe before it was too late.
She would either succumb to the darkness and increasing numbness, or be shot before that could happen. She wanted to live so badly, but she had been living on borrowed time for a while now, and Kurisu wasn't sure how many times she could escape death before it took her in its clutches. This could very well be the last one. It would take a miracle to get her out of this situation, and she was almost certain that it wasn't coming.
Using the last of her strength, Kurisu broke into his mind, having no trouble since she already knew the combination. "Okabe, do you have a plan?"
"Unfortunately, I do not." He answered back, sullenly.
"That's what I was afraid of. Okabe, I know that this might not be what you want to hear, but it may be time to throw in the towel. Without our powers, there isn't anything we can do. I would tell you to just give the paper to him, but we don't have it, and it would ruin the future. Under these circumstances, you don't have many options, so you might just have to accept the fact that we lost this one."
Okabe couldn't believe that she was suggesting such a thing. This was her life on the line, didn't she want to keep it? "Kurisu, do you know how many times I've been forced to watch you die? I don't know the exact number, but it's well over 100. I can't believe that you would even suggest that I give up on you, after everything that's happened. I won't allow it to happen again. If you were to die again, then I…you know what I mean. This isn't the time for this, so I'll stop right there. The point is that I WILL find a way to save you, it's just a matter of when." Okabe promised.
While he was talking to her, she remembered something that he had once told her. "I'm not sure how much this will help you, but I'll tell you anyway. When you told me about the time that you tried to save me and failed, I remember what you said the plan was. You had to deceive the world and your past self, didn't you? I know it's not the same thing, but maybe you could deceive Leskinen somehow. If only you still had some time energy, then it would make this easier." Kurisu lamented.
His eyes widened, coming to a realization about what he had to do. "Of course! Kurisu, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of it sooner? We've already established that electricity is converted into time energy through the hourglass, and we always thought of using lightning. What if we could use other types of electricity, such as the kind that runs through a computer? It wouldn't be enough to completely fill the hourglass, but it might suffice for saving you. I just have to trick him into letting me get close to the monitor."
He could feel her smile in his mind. "That's great, Okabe! I'm glad that I could…help…you…" She trailed off, and this worried him.
She went limp, forcing her captor to readjust his grip so that he didn't drop her. Kurisu had fallen unconscious due to her lack of oxygen, and that meant that time had run out. Gone was the time for thinking, now was the time to act.
"Alright." Okabe answered.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch what you said." Leskinen's eyebrows rose in surprise, having heard him, but unable to resist the urge to tease him a bit.
"I said, alright." Okabe repeated, through gritted teeth.
"I expected you to put up more resistance than that, but as long as I get what I want, then I don't care. Where is it?" Leskinen asked, curiously.
"It's over there. If you allow me to go get it, then I will bring it to you." Okabe explained, pointing at a random computer that was nearby.
Leskinen didn't like the idea of it, but he sighed. "I suppose so, but you better not try anything. You KNOW what will happen if you do." He warned, menacingly. The flaxen-haired foreigner didn't trust him, not even for a second, but it wasn't like he could do anything to stop him. Even if he were to try, he would simply make good on his threat, except that he had left out one crucial detail. After killing Kurisu, he would take out Okabe and Maho, as well.
Okabe turned to go, but a small child-like hand grabbed onto him. "Don't do it, Okabe! Now that I know about what will happen to the future if you do, I can't allow it! Please!" Maho begged.
She was stunned into silence by what he did next. Okabe turned and looked over his shoulder at her. He made sure Leskinen didn't see it, and winked at her, before turning back around. Maho let go, after being assured that he had some sort of plan. Even if she hadn't, it wasn't like her small stature would allow her to hold him in one place for very long. All she could do was watch in silence as he made his way over to the nearest computer.
When he arrived, he stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how he would get the electricity out of the monitor before Leskinen could figure out what he was doing.
"Why are you hesitating? Hurry up and bring it to me, or this sorry excuse for human life will die!" Leskinen demanded, getting impatient.
This was the last straw for Okabe. He wouldn't tolerate anyone insulting Kurisu in such a manner. This man had caused him no end of grief. He tormented him in the loop, haunted him in his nightmares, and now he was right in front of him, threatening to end everything all over again. Okabe came up with a plan, and the way he saw it…Leskinen deserved what was coming to him.
There wasn't any time to figure out a better method, so the scientist settled for the direct approach. His right fist flew forward with all of the strength he could muster, shattering the screen of the monitor with one punch. His arm slipped inside, searching until he found the circuitry within, then ripping it out.
The electricity inside burst out of the wires in an arc, spiraling down the length of his arm and instantly being absorbed into his body. A drop of blood dripped off of his injured hand, but before it could hit the floor, it reversed its course, flying back into the open wound. The blood disappeared as the wound sealed itself, and now it was impossible to tell that it was ever there in the first place.
"Okabe…" Maho muttered, under her breath. She rubbed her eyes in disbelief, her science-oriented mind shutting down from the resulting shock. There was no way to explain what she had just witnessed. It simply shouldn't have been possible.
He grinned at her briefly, before turning back to Leskinen with a heart-stopping glare. "Leskinen…" Okabe trailed off, menacingly. That one word was completely saturated with every ounce of the venom that he was secreting. It was impossible to miss the killing intent present in his gaze.
Although Leskinen was shaking in his boots, he did his best to stand his ground. "W-What are you?"
Okabe began walking towards him at a painfully slow pace, as the lights flickered eerily. The electricity that he had absorbed was radiating out from his body, being expelled in short bursts that began randomly striking the floor, creating sparks upon contact. Its color had changed from a blinding white to a sizzling orange color. Every step he took filled Leskinen with a sense of dread, like a metal weight had settled in the pit of his stomach, preventing him from leaving his spot.
"D-Don't come any closer! I'll shoot!" Leskinen threatened, although it didn't sound much like one in his current state. When he saw that he had no plans of stopping, he readied the pistol and fired straight at him. A flash of light exploded out of the barrel, as the bullet flew through the air towards its target. Okabe saw it coming in slow motion, and stepped to the side, refusing to let it break his stride. To Leskinen and Maho, he had moved so fast that he disappeared and reappeared in their vision. Leskinen still had two bullets left, so he fired them as well, but it had the same result. Okabe stepped to the side, dodging each one, and continuing forward. Maho hissed in pain, as one of the bullets grazed her right cheek, drawing a line of blood across it. By this time, he had already reached Leskinen. "I'll ask again. What are you, some kind of demon?"
Okabe chuckled at his misunderstanding, then smirked at him. "No, not quite. However, I'm sure you'll see a lot of those where you're going. As for me…you can call me your worst nightmare."
Leskinen didn't even have time to scream, as Okabe put a hand on his shoulder and activated his time energy. The vile man began to age rapidly, and in a matter of seconds he became a skeleton, then crumbled into a pile of ashes that settled on the floor. Okabe was quick to catch Kurisu in his arms bridal style before her still unconscious body could hit the floor. The energy that had been shooting out of him slowed, flowing over Kurisu's body and healing any injuries she had, such as the bruising from Leskinen's hold on her.
Maho was staring open-mouthed at everything she had just seen, but she covered her mouth with one hand quickly before she could throw up. Although most of it had happened too fast for her to see, she saw bits and pieces of Leskinen's muscles and skin deteriorating into a skeleton, so she was understandably nauseous.
Okabe looked over at her in sympathy. "Poor girl, she's not used to seeing things of such a graphic nature. I've seen much worse during both Mayuri and Kurisu's loops, so I seem to have built up more of a resistance to this sort of thing. Still, I'll never forget the time that Kurisu died by falling into a wood chipper. That was just…horrible. I'm glad that Kurisu wasn't awake to see what I just did, or she would probably have nightmares about it. Maho isn't likely to forget about this any time soon, unfortunately." The thought of what he had seen after Kurisu's remains made it out the other end of the wood chipper still made him a feel a little sick. He shuddered at the memory of what no one should ever have to see.
Okabe could feel his energy getting low, so he had to do something to fix this fast. Kurisu needed to be taken back home to recover, and it would take too long without the extra help. On the other hand, though, he hated to leave Maho alone like this. He noticed that she had a cut on her cheek, so he made his way over to her and gently brushed his hand across it, healing it completely.
This action seemed to snap the miniature scientist out of it, and her cheeks became dusted with pink. "W-What are you doing?" She reached up and felt the place that he had touched, and to her astonishment, the wound was gone! "Huh? How did you…" She trailed off, as Okabe shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain. I have to go and take care of Kurisu." He turned to leave, but stopped, turning around to say one last thing. It was important that she didn't get the wrong idea. "You understand why I did it, don't you? I hope you don't think that I'm some kind of crazy axe murderer or something."
Maho shook her head. "No, I understand that you were trying to protect us. The part I don't understand is how you did it. What about the…" She glanced over to the mess that he had made, but when she looked back, he was already vanishing in a flash of orange light. "…ashes." She said, flatly.
Kurisu was going to have to do a lot of explaining later. After all of that, she still didn't even know who that guy really was to Kurisu. If the others in their group of friends were as weird as he was, then she would advise her to get some new ones.
As Maho was doing her best to sweep up Leskinen's remains and put them in the trash, she was sure of one thing.
"I don't think therapy can fix this."