Author: Nadz
Email: vegitto02 at yahoo dot com
Disclaimer:
The title "Nightmare", as well as its storyline, is owned by the author.
All Tekkaman Blade characters are the property of Tatsunoko.
Any original characters are strictly owned by the author of this fan fiction.
This story may not be distributed to anybody without the author's permission due to version control. However, the author does encourage you to welcome your friends to read Nightmare on FanFiction dot net. Much thanks...
Tekkaman Blade III: Nightmare (Second Saga)
Chapter 37 - Stealth
Two nights later, past midnight (Night of Day Five)…
She couldn't afford to wait any longer, lest the effects would wear off. Seline entered the medical wing and headed for the desk. Because it was so late, only a couple of nurses were on duty. Both had dark circles under their eyes; it was clear that they'd been working well into their shift. One of the nurses said that she was going to take a nap and instructed the other nurse to wake her up in case she was needed. She then rose from her desk and proceeded down the hall, shutting herself in an empty room before dozing off.
Seline smiled to herself. Before Dead End had been moved, she had been a regular visitor and even knew about that nurse's habit of napping on the job. Fortunately for her, that nurse had not yet broken the habit. Seline waited for several minutes before limping towards desk. The young nurse remaining there was still relatively new, and she gave the girl a questioning look.
"I'm feeling really dizzy. I think I'm getting a bad head cold," convincingly moaned Seline.
"Wait in room twelve, and I'll be right over to check on you," nurse Megumi responded.
In the room, Seline sat patiently on the bed, hanging her legs over the edge. The nurse entered the room momentarily and began to fit on her rubber gloves. Seline put on a façade of anguish, and Megumi gave her a flat look. After all, couldn't this girl have come earlier for something so small? Or tomorrow?
"Open wide," Megumi instructed, placing the thermometer in her mouth. "There you—"
Without warning, Seline leapt up from the bed, grabbing the woman's throat with one hand and covering her mouth with the other. Megumi's attacker softly kicked the door shut and backed the frightened nurse into the wall. Seline spit out the thermometer and gave the woman an icy look.
"Don't worry, I won't hurt you as long as you don't scream," Seline warned, removing her hand from the lady's mouth. "Now, I want you to tell me the password to access the patient database."
"Forget it!" the nurse responded. Seline flashed her eyes menacingly and reissued her command.
"No, really, that's the password!" Megumi trembled with fear. "Please don't hurt me… please…"
"Ok, not a word of this to anyone, or your superiors will hear from a little birdie that you and your colleagues take turns sleeping on the job," she threatened, letting the nurse go. "Do I make myself clear?"
The nurse nodded in agreement, and Seline turned to leave. Seeing her opportunity, Megumi lunged for the girl, who gasped in surprise before landing a hard kick to the other's stomach. Megumi moaned as she sank unconscious to the floor. Seline glared at her in annoyance… and then had an idea.
Dressed in the nurse's uniform, Seline propped down at the computer terminal at the nurse desk and entered "forgetit," chuckling at their choice of password. She scanned a listing of all patients and selected "Dead End." The screen that pulled up revealed his location and displayed a map showing how to get there. Quietly congratulating herself, she made a printout of the information and studied it.
"Can't wait to see you, honey," she said, tying her hair bun under her nurse hat before leaving.
Basking in the soft pink light glowing from the organic ceiling, the woman slowly circled her quarry. The person she faced had already been well past capture physically – it was now a question of seizing her mind. The woman stopped in her path, choosing to bend down and peer inside the pod.
"The pods of Tek-System are quite amazing, aren't they? They're just like another womb."
The figure inside the pod gave no reaction, her arms wrapped around her knees.
"Stop pretending you can't hear me, Aki," whispered Delta, placing her hand on the pod's fleshy surface. "If you can't give your mind to your younger sister, won't you at least lend her your words?"
"I would, if you were willing to understand them. But your mind has grown too twisted, Sayaki."
'Jeez, they've really kept him in the middle of nowhere,' she thought, heading down a flight of stairs and quietly opening the door at the next floor. In front of her was yet another corridor, lined with office rooms that were closed. Keeping her hand on her hat, Seline walked casually down the hallway.
The path soon ended, and she had a choice to go either left or right. Consulting the map, she opted left. The lighting was dim, and her soft footsteps echoed in the hallway. Yet, she was dressed in a nurse's uniform, so even if there were security cameras tracking her, nobody would suspect anything amiss.
'I can't believe they make nurses wear high heels here,' she griped, her feet starting to pain.
"My mind, twisted? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. There's one thing I know for sure – your mind has become distant from mine," Delta said, the pink light reflecting off her eyes. "As so has my son's."
"He's been hiding more and more things from me as time goes on," she continued. "He hasn't been his normal self, yet he doesn't say what's troubling him, even when I ask. Why won't he tell me?"
Delta paused to see if Aki would answer, but there came no response. The Warlady frowned.
"He will be entering adolescence shortly. Is it pre-teenage angst, or is there more to it than that?"
"There could be anything going through his head, considering how much you brainwashed him."
"Don't lecture me about teaching a child," Delta fired back. "You've only begun motherhood."
'This is definitely an isolated place to keep him,' thought Seline, passing by several crates stacked along the walls. As she passed by, she saw a closed metal pull-down gate to her right and a large elevator door on her left. It seemed as if this was some sort of storage area. She looked back down at her map; yes, she was following it precisely, and there wasn't much left to go – only a couple more turns.
Seline glanced at her watch – twenty-five minutes had passed. She hoped that the slumbering nurse wouldn't wake up soon from her nightly nap, for if she did, she would find her co-worker sleeping in her underwear on the bed in room twelve. Seline just hoped that her warning would keep them silent.
'Almost there,' she thought, continuing forward. All she had to do was take the upcoming right turn, which would lead to a very short hallway. At the end of that short hallway would lay the door to his room. Seline slowed her pace and paused for a second as she approached the turn. Was she ready to do this? Yes, she had to be; she had no other choice. Taking in a deep breath, she rounded the corner…
… And saw nothing but a wall.
There was no door in front of her, and there was no room. There was just plain wall.
"What the hell?" she softly blurted, pulling out the paper. "This map is wrong…"
"Not really," a voice spoke, startling her from behind. "It did lead you to a Dead End, didn't it? Just not the one you're looking for."
Seline felt a chill on her skin as she swiveled around, seeing the formidable figure of Neilus.
"It's been so long since I've been a mother to an infant," the Warlady raised her eyes, tilting her head to stare at the ceiling lights. "So many years have passed – you can't imagine how much I miss holding my little Okita in my lap, watching him flail his arms and kick his tiny legs."
"That's why I almost envy you, Aki… almost," Delta said, closing her eyes. "You don't even get to enjoy your little darling. Don't you feel shame, leaving him in the care of others while you play hero?"
Aki kept her eyes closed, a shot of guilt going through her. Delta waited, but she said nothing.
"Going back to silent treatment, I see; I must have struck a chord," Sayaki chuckled softly. "Well, would you be more talkative if I told you a little bit about your son? Why he has his strange powers?"
"So, it appears that although you've been searching for a Dead End, you've found another," said Neilus, holding a gun in his right hand. He possessed a stern glare, taking a step towards her. The girl cursed herself for having been caught in such a manner for the second time!
"How did you know?" she said, only to gasp. "You set me up, didn't you? With a bogus map…"
"That's correct," the man nodded. "When we moved Dead, we predicted you would try any means possible to find him. The obvious first step would be searching for him in the patient database."
"Then, the entry under 'Dead End' was a fake," she whispered. "It was merely bait."
"Yes, and this is the trap," Neilus admitted, pleased with his plan. "If we were keeping Dead so secretly hidden, would we really keep his information exposed under his name, protected only by a measly password? Didn't you find it absurd that there was even a map with directions to his supposed location?"
"What… what about the doctors and nurses?" Seline presented. "How would they find him?"
"They knew about it," he continued. "We modified the database and told the medical staff that the listing for 'Dead End' was fake. They were told that his real information was kept under a different name."
"And when I accessed the fake, an alarm triggered and notified you," she guessed, feeling stupid.
"You're so perceptive… especially after you get caught," Neilus chuckled, seeing her face relax.
"Well, I must congratulate you for successfully deceiving me," she shrugged. "But in the end, so what? All you've managed to do is catch me sneaking around, nothing more. I've committed no crime."
"Oh, I think catching you this way does quite a lot – it shows that you're worthy of suspicion and opens the door for many questions," he countered. "For instance, why are you so desperate to find Dead?"
"Because I'm attached to him, and I wanted to see him."
"Oh, how cute," he laughed. "Are you so attached that you're ready to gain unauthorized access to a computer system, dress up as a nurse, and sneak around in areas you're not allowed to be in? We even had the doctors prescribe that Dead be put under strict isolation for observation. A normal person would have honored that, but you couldn't. No, Seline, your actions scream that there is some underlying reason behind your desperation to find Dead… much more than mere longing to see him. What is that reason?"
"What's the point in telling you? You're not going to believe whatever I say."
"Let's make it easy for you. I'll present a possibility, and you tell me if I'm right," he suggested. "Are you trying to find him so you could slip him something that would ensure he remains unconscious?"
"W… what!" she stammered. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb. The day D-boy came back, we questioned a few people, including Corpse-Robber. He started rambling on about how Dead End was so lucky to have a beautiful girlfriend like you who kissed him daily. We knew you had been kissing him a while ago, but we found it strange you were continuing the practice. After all, you two never had enough time to become so emotionally close."
"That's not your call to make…" she protested, albeit feebly.
"Considering the doctors were saying he should have woken up by now, it wouldn't be a stretch to wonder whether you were frequently kissing him some sort of pill or other agent that kept him asleep," he stated. "Milly even defended you, saying that such a hypothesis was ridiculous, but I felt there was truth to it. To be sure, D-boy approved Dead to be moved to a secure location so you couldn't reach him. We then devised this little trap for you to make sure we were justified in suspecting you. It's now clear that we are."
"No… you're not… Milly's right – it's nothing more than a baseless conjecture."
"But your coming down here makes it all seem to fit. When you heard he was moved, you feared you wouldn't be able to give him his regular dosage. That's why you broke all sorts of rules to make sure he'd get it. Besides, our theory will be proven either way in a few days. If he wakes up, we'll know you're the culprit. So please, make our lives easier and confess, else I'll strip search you for the pills right here!"
Seline paused in thought, reaching slowly into her shirt and removing a tiny capsule of powder.
"Yes, I got a little reaction out of you, didn't I?" Delta laughed softly, tracing her finger along the pod surface. "Analyzing him with the pod proved fruitful. It told me something I would never have known on my own… Oh, you would like to know, wouldn't you? Let me see… should I tell you this for free?"
"You haven't changed, Sayaki. Always thinking about getting something in return."
"Easy for you to say, you had the comfort to give freely," she returned, a trace of bitterness in her voice. "Since I'm in power here, we do it my way – you answer my question, and I tell you about Shinya."
After a moment of thought, Aki gave a brief nod. Pleased, Delta brought her lips close to the pod.
"Tell me Aki, what is it you love about Aiba Takaya? His charm, his appearance, or his power?"
Nobody said anything for a minute. Seline kept her sight locked on the man, and Neilus couldn't take his eyes off the capsule resting in her outstretched palm. It was so small, almost the size of a Tic-Tac.
"You got me," she shrugged, shaking her head. "Yes, I was trying to keep him asleep."
"Now… comes the bigger question," he said. "What was your purpose for doing it all this time?"
"I… I knew that if he were to wake up, he would go and fight Raze," she said, fumbling for words. "And with Raze so strong, I didn't want him to hurt Dead any more than he already did."
"Didn't you know already that Raze was blown to smithereens the day this base was attacked?" he posed, seeing her scowl slightly. "Well, perhaps you didn't. We learned this only after D-boy came back."
Seline chose to remain silent, thankful that he didn't snag her on that point.
"Regardless, I still don't buy it. I think you're up to something more sinister," he pressed.
"Look, you can think all you want and come up with the wackiest ideas, but I've had enough of your grilling," she muttered. "I already confessed and told you my reason for it. Now leave me alone."
"I'm afraid I can't do that," he said, stepping towards her. "I'm placing you under arrest."
"Arrest?" she laughed in disbelief. "For what, sneaking around?"
"For placing Dead's health in danger by drugging him," he stated. "Now put your hands up."
"You're just a man, alone with his gun," she sneered. "Have you forgotten I'm a Tekkaman?"
"Are you threatening me, a Cabinet member of the government? That's one more offense on your record!" he smirked. "Besides, if you do something to me, others will suspect you that much more."
Seline gave the man a hard look; he had a point. Letting out a sigh, she raised her arms.
"My love for D-boy cannot be explained well in mere words, and neither can my reasons," Aki answered telepathically through the pod. "Our love grows because we understand each other – our fears, joys, concerns – and we face any times of trouble together. Even when he's silent, I can hear the words screaming from his mind. I've come to learn who he truly is, and it strengthens my love that much more."
"That… that was so beautiful…" said Delta, feinting a snivel and wiping an imaginary tear.
Aki tightened her fists inside the gelatinous mass, and the Warlady burst into fits of laughter.
"Good comedy is always recognized," Delta bowed. "As promised, I will tell you about Shinya."
Walking slowly through the passageways, she began to feel her blood boil. How could an ant like Neilus be such an annoyance? He was a mere human, and she was a Tekkaman. Yet, it was she who was walking in the front, while he kept his gun aimed at her back as he followed a few feet behind.
"You really don't have anything better to do than track me, do you?" she groused. "You ratted me out to Dr. Fuchida when I tried to steal Xyla from the military. You've had your eye on me ever since."
"And for good reason, considering the number of shady things about you," he returned, clearing his throat. "Since we're on the topic, could you tell me how you knew beforehand that there would be a Primary Body battalion heading there? Why is it that you always return from your battles, which are rather infrequent to begin with, relatively uninjured? And finally, if you really did escape from Delta, why didn't she send her soldiers to finish you off for good in order to prevent you from leaking information?"
"…What are you trying to say, that I'm a traitor?" she challenged, turning her head.
"On the contrary, I believe you never were a traitor. You've always been serving Delta by being a mole within the Space Knights, burrowing your way inside by having Okita pretend to kill you near Dead."
"Wow, you've got quite an imagination!" she laughed. "How'd you come up with such baloney?"
"I've seen enough of the world of politics and its craziness to learn how to piece things together."
"I think you've seen enough to make you crazy… Try piecing your brain together first."
"Obviously, Shinya has parents who both possess Tekkaman powers," Delta started, resting her cheek on the pod. "But that itself is not the key, for babies of Tekkamen parents normally don't have the abilities he does. According to the pod, he is an anomaly – a child given the gift of Native Compatibility."
Seline extended her hand, opening the door to the stairwell. Neilus followed behind carefully, making sure there was a small distance between them. The young woman saw him out of the corner of her eye as she approached the base of the stairs, wondering what she could do. If she transformed, it would be possible for D-boy to detect it, and she certainly didn't want to arouse his attention. She then got an idea.
The girl slowly began to climb the stairs, and the man followed three steps behind. The sound of their movements echoed softly against the walls, and Seline lightened the noise by tiptoeing. Neilus noticed this and frowned. Suddenly, the girl's toes missed a step, causing her to sink forward.
"Are you al—" the man started instinctively, cut off as she spun around and lashed out her leg. Her foot made hard contact with his wrist, sending the gun flying out of his hand and clattering down the steps. Stunned for a moment, Neilus quickly came to his senses and raced down the stairs, bending down to pick up the pistol. At that moment, Seline leapt on his back, pushing him forward past the weapon.
"Argh!" he grunted, placing his hands in front of him and bracing him for impact against the wall.
Picking up the gun, Seline reached forward and pulled the man back, wrapping her left arm around his neck while using her right hand to hold the gun to his temple. He opened his mouth in fear, and she tightened her grip. Nobody moved for a moment; the only sound that echoed was that of their hard breaths.
"If you know what's good for you, don't struggle… or squeal," she said in a threatening whisper.
"You'll never get away with killing me," his voice quivered. "I was right about you, wasn't I?"
"There's only one person who'll hear the truth, and you're not him," she answered. "This… is between me and Blade. A dog like you better learn to stop sticking your nose into other people's affairs."
"You're… you're after him as well?" he gasped. "For what? What did he do to you?"
"Are you deaf? Stay out of it! … Now tell me, where were you just before coming down here?"
"In… In my office," he answered, his throat dry. "Why, what are you going to do?"
"This," she said, swinging her knee up and smashing it into his million dollar spot. Neilus' mouth forced itself wide open in agony, yet no sound came out. Seline released her grip, and he sank to the floor.
"Now, tell me where you really were before you came down here, or I'll do it one more time."
"My office… my office," he nodded, tears rolling from his eyes. Satisfied, Seline reached into her shirt and brought out two capsules, shoving them into his open mouth and forcing him to swallow. Neilus felt nothing different for a moment, but soon his pain started to ebb. The world became slightly fuzzier.
"Now, we're going upstairs. And if you cry, your nuts are going to feel it again… and harder."
Unbuttoning the nurse coat so that it revealed her clothes underneath, Seline thought of the perfect idea. She wrapped her right arm around Neilus under his shirt, keeping the gun barrel planted against his skin. She guided him slowly up the stairs and got off at the floor for the medical wing. The two of them trudged down the corridor, heading for the nurse desk. Seline made sure she acted somewhat disoriented for any security cameras, even though the camera network had been damaged during the attack on the base.
Tired, Seline led a virtually unconscious Neilus past the desk and headed for room twelve. Nurse Megumi still lay out cold on the bed in her underwear, her nurse coat having been stolen by Seline. With a heave and show of strength, Seline hoisted Neilus up onto the bed and laid him on his side just next to the nurse. She then removed the stolen nurse uniform from her shoulders and dumped it on the floor. Thinking for a moment, she removed Neilus' shirt and dropped it next to the outfit. For an added touch, she tussled his hair, unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants, and moved his arm such that it wrapped around the nurse.
"Imagine what they'll think when they find you," Seline chuckled softly to herself, popping a few more pills into each of their mouths. "That should keep the two of you out for a couple of days at least."
Realizing that the doctors would suspect they'd been drugged if she simply left them like that, her mind worked for a solution. She disappeared from the room and came back, holding a bottle of painkillers she found at the nurse's desk. Keeping her breath steady, she administered one tablet to each of them and placed the half-filled bottle on the small table next to the bed. She then pulled the bed sheet over their legs.
"Aw, you make such a cute couple," she smiled, clasping her hands and admiring her handiwork.
Intent on cleaning up, Seline snuck into Neilus' office. She wiped her fingerprints from the gun and placed it in the drawer he had left ajar. She then looked at his computer, noticing the event log he kept.
The latest entry read: "1:15 AM: 'Dead End' signaled, going to check it out."
Seline thought for a moment, estimating how long it took to get there from the medical wing.
Pondering, she added: "1:45 AM: Finished checking, just a false alarm. Nurse hit it by accident because she's new. Will go back to medical wing to show her correct operation of patient database."
"Looks like you went and showed her a bit more than that, didn't you?" she chortled.
The girl continued to explore his computer and his room, hoping to find a hint of where Dead End was being kept, but she could find none. Frustrated, she gave up for the night and headed to her room.
Lifting her head, Sayaki zeroed her sight on the woman resting inside. Aki listened tensely…
"Such a gift appears with infinitesimal probability, but the chances are raised if one of the parents has undergone a strength upgrade and lived to have a child… In this case, the Blastor form of Blade," Delta explained. "Although Shinya cannot yet transform, his body is extraordinarily attuned to Tek-System – to the point that his mind can integrate with the system's operation and manipulate it. In other words, he can access the minds of other Tekkamen and even cause their dysfunction if he strongly wishes to do so."
"As he matures, he may be able to unlock other powers hidden within Tek-System that we normal Tekkamen never even knew existed," Delta said, growing excited. "Your son isn't just unusual, Aki; he's incredible. In time, Aiba Shinya will become the most powerful Tekkaman mankind has ever known."
Aki shifted slightly in the pod, not knowing whether such a fact was a bane or a blessing.