Chapter 157: Ideology and Punches
Previously, on "The Perfect Storm" . . .
"Hah. You thought you could keep us out," Blue smirked.
Dr. Kogami grimaced, but Takeru just looked confused. "What are you talking about? That barrier isn't to keep anything out! It's to keep them in!"
"Uh, guys?" Blue blinked, sudden concern in her voice. "This can't be right, but . . according to my scan, there's more than one other TFEI in this facility,"
"What? Then, how many are there? Two? Did they take a Red as well?" Pierce asked.
"Uh, no . . There's hundreds,"
~St0rm C0m1ng~
"This isn't possible. My scan says there's more than eight hundred TFEI here, that's more than have ever existed in both the Overmind and the Canopy put together . ." Blue trailed off, dawning realisation crossing her face as she stared at Dr. Kogami.
"What did you do?" she hissed. An expression came over her features that was unlike anything Phoenix's Eye had seen from her before; pure and utter loathing. Kirito was shoved aside as her wings blurred, and suddenly the TFEI was in the air with her hand holding Dr. Kogami by the neck against the wall. "What the fuck did you do?!"
"I am under no obligation to tell you anything," Dr. Kogami calmly replied.
Blue looked ready to rip his face off, but Takeru interrupted. "Project Alicization is a weapons development program funded by the World Government. I was recruited from the Touto University in Neo Domino to help work on this project, under Dr. Kogami. They told me that he'd invented an artificial life form that didn't age past adulthood and was incapable of dying, and he needed people like me to help him perfect and mass-produce the next generation of Marines to end the war with the Revolutionary Army and restore global peace,"
Everyone stared at him in disbelief.
"Dr. Kogami . . it's not true, is it? You didn't create the Temporally Adjunct Entities, did you?" The sheer look of betrayal on Takeru's face was so profound that none of the Phoenixes quite knew how to react to it.
After a long moment, the older man sighed. "No. I didn't. The best I could do was create an imperfect replica of, well, your kind," His right hand limply gestured in Blue's direction.
The fairy dropped him, and he hit the ground with a crash.
"I hate to interrupt, but do you or do you not know where Yui is?" Kirito demanded.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. There's one isolated signature in the front left leg of the turtle, probably her. Shouldn't be hard to find, just wreck stuff until you see her," Blue waved him off.
Kirito nodded, already making for the other door. "I'll go with you," Grace volunteered, starting after him. "I'd like to see Yui again,"
"Then I'll come too," Cal followed them as they left the room. "You need someone who knows their way around an Archive," The door swung shut behind them.
"Hey. These are surveillance screens, right?" Pierce looked up at the monitors before them. "Mind showing me these hundreds of TFEI?" he asked Takeru, who nodded. "Sure," He pressed a few buttons, and suddenly the screens flared to life, revealing . . a village.
It was by all accounts a perfectly mundane, small village, on an island surrounded by open fields and pastures, and calm, rolling oceans. Completely ordinary-looking people tended crops and cattle, children played in streets and gardens, craftsmen worked their tools. It was an entirely self-contained society of a bit less than a thousand people.
Team Pierce stared at the screens in disbelief.
"What is all this?" Tyria asked.
"They're the beta models. We haven't gone into mass production yet because there's one problem we haven't been able to work out," Takeru quietly explained.
"Beta models my ass, they're people," Pierce growled.
"I know," Takeru shrugged. "They're happy, aren't they? They've got a whole little paradise down there. It's not like we keep them in test tubes,"
Boomer spoke up for the first time. "What's this problem you're having?"
"They won't hurt each other," Takeru pursed his lips. "We haven't been able to figure out why, but not once since we started this project has a TAE - um, TFEI I guess - tried to hit another. They're all incapable of dying, of course, but none of them even know that. They argue, sure, but they're like sheep, and it never comes to blows. Not one of them has ever even thrown a punch,"
"Not much point in having pacifistic soldiers, huh," Pierce scoffed.
"Basically, yeah," the geek confirmed.
"Why?" Blue asked, looking coldly at Dr. Kogami. "Why would you do this?"
The man shrugged. "It's a living for me and my son,"
"Oh, don't give me the 'just following orders' crap. Smart guy like you, you could do anything. What gives you the right to meddle with things beyond your means?"
Dr. Kogami slowly exhaled. "Oh. 'The right'. How very imperious of you," he responded, bracing himself against the wall and rising to his feet. "You're quite correct. I could do anything I like with my life. And to be quite frank, there's nowhere I'd rather be than right here, on the bleeding edge of scientific development. You talk about magic, about progress, like it's something that requires permission, like me and mine should know our place and beg for scraps from your table. No. I refuse to cede the right to our world to some shadowy cabal of aliens. You, who has no right to stop us, ask me why? We did it because we could,"
Suddenly a blue fist struck him in the face, twisting his head to the side. Blue was livid. "That's it? You violated my kind, our very being, just to prove that you were capable of it? You disgust me!" the TFEI spat. "You don't know how much we've done for you, your entire world would be multiversal dust a hundred times over if not for the Overmind!"
"Then maybe it's time you took your hands off the wheel and let us take care of our own world,"
"You're wrong, Doctor," Both looked over in surprise at Takeru. "All this time, I thought we were doing real work. I thought we were making something entirely new, something good. Something that was ours. But now it turns out that we've just been copying someone else's design, and doing a substandard job of it too? There's nothing to be proud of about that," he grimly shook his head. "All we've proven is that we can't,"
Blue side-eyed him. "You still don't get it, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've got noble ideas and good intentions, I suppose, but think about it. Those are people down there, thinking, independent beings that you've created. If this project of yours worked as intended, it would basically be a soldier factory. Your fake TFEI would be trained from birth to fight wars and enforce peace. If they can't get old and can heal from any injury, do you think the Marine Admirals or the World Nobles will ever let them retire? Or take other jobs? I don't think it's a good idea to let anyone command soldiers who are legally their property. And that's to say nothing of the ramifications for the rest of the world. The World Government's already the most corrupt institution on the planet and you think they can be trusted with an indestructible army? Give it ten years and the entire planet will become a police state. That or it'll turn into an endless war between opposing armies of TFEI. This entire operation is so . . so . . reprehensible!"
As Takeru thought about every point Blue brought up, the blood drained from his face. "Oh, Ankhseram . . Ankhseram . . you're right,"
"Don't listen to her," Dr. Kogami warned. Everyone ignored him.
"This . ." Takeru looked around at the monitors with new eyes. "This can't continue. You're right," He paused, swallowing. "Tell me what you people need. I'll do my best to make it happen. I'm no, well, him," he gestured at the doctor, "but I know my way around the system. You're right. This is wrong,"
Artorias chuckled, and he gripped Takeru's shoulder approvingly. "We'll make a Revolutionary of you yet,"
The young man just sweatdropped. "Please don't say that, if I joined the Revolutionary Army my mum would kill me,"
"Well, we appreciate it," Tyria assured him, before looking at Kogami. "What do we do with him?"
The scientist cast a pleading look at his colleague. "Takeru, please. We're not in the wrong here. Besides, we need to be able to defend ourselves against creatures like this. Don't you see how much of a threat they are?"
"You lied to me, Kiyoshi. Everything we've done here is a lie. All these matters of ethics and what's right is more than I can really handle right at this moment, but none of it changes the fact that you didn't trust me with the truth, either to trick me into helping you or just to make yourself look good. How can I trust you after that?" the younger man frowned in response.
"I see," Dr. Kogami sighed. "Then until you revise your position, there can only be conflict between us. That's a pity," Then, suddenly, there was a flash of green light, and he vanished.
Blue blinked, and looked around desperately. "Where did he go?!"
"He does that. Dr. Kogami isn't a wizard, but he's worked out a lot of alternative applications for his technology . . um, I mean, your technology," Takeru explained. "Short-range teleportation was one of his greatest achievements. It only works within the facility, though, so he can't be far away. He wouldn't leave without Ryoken anyway,"
"Hold on," There was a lethal undertone to Blue's voice now. "Are you telling me that you built weapons out of TFEI flesh?!"
"No, it's . . um . . it was just as a precaution against malfunctioning TA entities . . though they'd probably work just as well against your kind of . . um . . yes?"
"Who's Ryoken?" Tyria interrupted, worried that Blue would snap and murder the unfortunate assistant.
"H-he's Dr. Kogami's son. He lives on the base because he doesn't have any other family. The doctor wouldn't leave without him," Takeru explained.
Blue sighed. "We need to capture that doctor. No matter how much I hate him, if he can build TFEI, even weaker versions of us, he'd be an invaluable asset to the Canopy,"
"Hold on," Pierce interrupted. "We didn't come here to kill anyone,"
"As much as I'd love to, that won't be necessary. I only need to get him alone for a few minutes so that I can erase all his memories of his processes and methods. I'll just have to settle for that," the TFEI grumbled. "But I'm also the only person here who can open a portal to the Data Overmind so that we can get these - what are we even going to call them, White TFEI? - out of here,"
"Could Yui do that after the others rescue her?" Tyria asked.
"She'll probably be weak and deprived of magic. I can't imagine them being able to hold a TFEI at full strength, they must be keeping her sedated or something. But Cardinal did give me some backup," Blue's face was set in stone. "I guess it's time to make a call," With a wave of her hand, a triangular blue screen appeared before her, which the Phoenixes peered at in curiosity. "Asakura? Do you read me?"
The screen flickered, and resolved into what Pierce recalled as an uncomfortably familiar face, framed with long, wavy blue hair and a gormless smile. "Hi!" Asakura beamed.
Pierce blinked in disbelief. "Hey! Aren't you the girl who tried to kill me during the Grand Magic Games!"
"Yeah, and I got stuck with desk duty for ages because of it. Like, whatever. Nice to see you again too, bird boy," Asakura waved with a giggle. "Why complain about it, anyway? You got a new power out of it,"
The Tamer spluttered in disbelief. "Because you tried to kill me!"
Blue cast Pierce a sympathetic look. "No one actually likes Asakura, but she is very good at her job. I'm transmitting everything I've learned to you and the Overmind now," Blue addressed the other TFEI.
Asakura went rigid, and blue lights flickered over her eyes. "What?" She sounded genuinely surprised. "The humans figured out how to make TFEI?"
"Close enough. Me and Phoenix's Eye are going to perform an extraction and send them to the Data Overmind. Cardinal will know what to do with them. You are under strict orders, on pain of sitting out Full Revolution if you disobey, not to inflict any harm on Phoenix's Eye, any of these fake - um, White TFEI, or anyone who is not a direct threat to us. And because I just sent you all my data you have no excuses of ignorance," Blue sighed a bit. "Also, your top priority is capturing and erasing the pertinent memories of Dr. Kogami. He's too valuable a potential asset to the Canopy. Frankly, it's nothing short of miraculous that the Reds don't seem to be involved in this business," A shudder ran down her spine at the thought. "Don't kill him though, that's not necessary. You're only permitted to erase his memories, and only the ones relating to his processes and techniques. After that . . raze this place to the ground. I don't even care what you do with it after we've all left. Just make sure that any Government stooge who comes looking for something to salvage won't be able to find a single damn lacrima,"
A sadistic smile came across Asakura's face as she saluted. "Yes ma'am," The screen snapped shut.
"Hey, there's something else you should probably know," Takeru called from his desk. "The World Government has an operative from Cipher Pol here. A man named Kikuoka Seijirou. I don't know where he is right now, but he's probably going to get in your way sooner or later. He's the one who recruited me and his job is to oversee all aspects of Project Alicization. So he's probably fully aware and on board with all these classified details,"
"So we've got someone to fight, huh? Works for me," Tyria grinned.
Pierce cleared his throat. "We should split up, break in these Transponder Snails. Artorias, stay with Takeru and monitor things from here. Boomer, Hare, Siria, go further into the facility and see if you can find Dr. Kogami. Blue, Tyria, we're going into this village of White TFEI and spreading the word that we're all leaving. We'll have to figure out how to get them all to listen to us when we're down there. Takeru, is there anything that we should know?"
"One thing, yes. We have a mechanism set up in Diamauros - that's what our TFEI have named their settlement - that locally accelerates the flow of time by a factor of about twenty-four. So for every minute that passes up here, twenty-four minutes pass down there. It's how we've been able to monitor behaviour across multiple generations in only a few months. Do you want me to disable that and set the ratio back to one-to-one?"
"You can accelerate . ." Pierce's eyes widened as realisation dawned on him. "The Sempiternal Phoenix. You've got the Sempiternal Phoenix here, I forgot that . . and you're using it to accelerate the passage of time?"
"The what?" Takeru shrugged. "I heard that it's a repurposing of some millenia-old Ancient Weapon called Kronos. But we just call it the AWK system,"
"Right . . well, yes, set the time ratio on this AWK system back to one-to-one. Anything else is just going to complicate things," Pierce confirmed.
"You got it," Takeru agreed.
"Everyone know what they're doing? Good. Let's go!" Pierce commanded.
~St0rm C0m1ng~
Meanwhile, Kirito burst into the main lab wing of Rath, located in the front-left leg of the turtle.
The entire facility was whitewashed and chromed. As he ran, mirror images of himself flanked him on all sides, and an inverted double's feet met his own. But eventually, he reached a large intersection with doors to either side and keypads locking them both.
"Wait up!" Grace and Cal, panting, skidded to a halt nearby.
Kirito didn't have time for them to catch their breath. "I think this is the right door, but it's locked,"
For a second, Grace blinked at the locked door. Then she laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"They're trying to keep out a spatial warper. With a lock," The Reality Dragon Slayer laughed harder, flicking her wrist and opening a rippling fold in space that led straight through the door, then leaping through.
Kirito looked hesitant.
"Relax, we do this all the time," Cal assured him, following her.
Kirito grimaced, but jumped after them.
As he landed, gunfire rang out, and Grace squeaked as a bullet flew towards her leg, but distorted space swallowed it up and sent it bouncing into the ceiling.
The room around them was largely open, with banks of monitors and desks flanking every wall, and two more doors at the far end of the room. They were empty, though, and only one man, clad in a suit and spectacles, stood before them, a revolver in hand.
Behind him was a massive glass tube full of some kind of fluid, and floating within, with electrodes strapped across every inch of her body, was a human-looking preteen girl that both Kirito and Grace recognised.
"Yui!" her father gasped, drawing both swords and holding them in a ready stance, with one sword in front and one behind his head.
Cal cast him a sidelong glance, decided that everything about what he was doing was incredibly cool, and decided to mimic it - in spite of having only one sword of his own.
"I see bullets are ineffective," the man before them scoffed. "Wizards,"
"I don't know who you are, but if you want to live to see tomorrow get out of my way," the Black Swordsman's voice dripped with lethal intent.
"In a different scenario, I'd tell you that I am Kikuoka, and I am with Cipher Pol 1. But given you have invaded a World Government facility I highly doubt you're going to turn around and leave just because of me. All else aside, I wouldn't let you," Kikuoka calmly explained. "Still, I should know for my report. What on earth has possessed you three and your co-conspirators to invade this place?"
"Well, we are with the Revolutionary Army -" Cal started, but the more skilled swordsman cut him off. "You're holding my daughter hostage,"
"We're what?" Kikuoka questioned, tilting his head in confusion.
Kirito's lips twisted into a violent scowl at this non-response, gesturing furiously at the tube containing the unconscious Yui. "Don't 'what' me! She's right behind you!"
Kikuoka actually looked behind him with a frown. "You mean . . the TAE," he slowly said.
"Temporally Fluctuated Entity Interface, asshole," Cal corrected him.
"I wasn't aware that they formed family units. So are you all TAEs?" The light flashed off the agent's glasses as he looked at them again. "No, I don't think so. You're human," He focused on Grace, who was staring at him intently, her hands twitching. "Well, mostly,"
She blinked and was about to inquire into the nature of this statement, but again Kirito interrupted. "I am her father. I don't care that she's adopted, or that she's a thousand-year-old alien, she's my daughter. How can you do this?" he demanded. "How can you be okay with using children as weapons?!"
"Because it'll save lives!" Kikuoka retorted. "Look, kid. I don't know what you've twisted your mind around to believe, but these things, these 'TFEI'. They're not people. They're robots, made of magic and metal. Sure, they can do a good job of pretending to have feelings, but I've seen their insides. It's all just little numbers telling them what to do. They're robots, and they're weapons. Every day, Marines - real people, soldiers who just want to make the world a better place - they die. And they don't have to, not when we have puppets to fight our wars for us. I'd rather sacrifice a million of these robots than let one real person die,"
"Do you really think that would make a difference? Wars would still happen, people wouldn't change. What does this even accomplish, if you replace the Marines with TFEI?!" Kirito snapped, slowly advancing.
"My parents would still be alive!" the agent suddenly snapped.
Kirito drew to a halt, keeping his guard up but watching Kikuoka closely. "What do you mean?"
"My parents were Marines. They were part of the unit sent to quell an uprising in Vestal," Kikuoka slowly explained through gritted teeth as he swallowed tears. "They came back . . in coffins,"
The swordsman's eyes widened. "Oh . ."
"They're dead and I can't change that. Don't waste your energy feeling sorry for me," Kikuoka retorted. "I'm not saying there won't be any war anymore when the World Government has TFEI soldiers, I'm not that naive. But when we do, there won't be any more human casualties in the Marines. There won't be any more kids like I was, who have to grow up alone because their parents gave their lives in the name of justice. After all, these things are indestructible. They can heal any wound. And they don't have families who'll miss them if they do somehow die. It's win-win. We're the good guys here, we're trying to save lives. Why can't you see that?"
Kirito's eyes hardened again. "Because they're people too. And if you think they aren't you aren't paying attention,"
Kikuoka sighed. "Well, I didn't really think I'd be able to talk you down. I should confess; I've been stalling for time,"
Suddenly, the wall behind him and Yui's pod exploded . . . and a thing emerged through the rubble.
It was massive and golden, and every facet of its being was made of wickedly sharp blades. Like a spider, it balanced on eight leg-like swords that cut gouges into the ground underneath. It had no skin, but a spine that was a massive axe, from which a dozen scimitars like ribs curved protectively around a glowing purple core. Its head was squashed and malformed, like the hilt of a sword, with crossguards forming massive eyebrows and a stubby blade for a forehead that framed glowing purple eyes. Axe heads crowned its shoulders, and in place of hands it had impossibly massive swords that it brandished with a tortured moan.
"Meet our Sword Golem. It came about when the scientists wondered if stripping a TFEI of its sanity was the trick to getting them to fight. Unfortunately it proved to be impossibly expensive to maintain, enough so that there's no way we can justify the cost of maintaining a standing army of them. But we kept one around for testing. I'm glad we did," Kikuoka explained, folding his arms smugly.
Kirito grimaced and Cal paled.
"If we're confessing things, then I've got one too," Grace suddenly piped up. "We've been stalling as well,"
The spy quirked an eyebrow. "What?"
There was a loud splash, and suddenly Yui's unconscious form vanished, replaced by a bubble in her exact shape and size. She immediately appeared a few feet in the air behind them, before collapsing to the ground as the bubble and fluid where she'd once been equalised. Then Grace released her spell and space snapped back, taking with it a splash of liquid that hit the ground around them.
"What?" Kikuoka's eyes widened.
"Pinpoint spatial warping is still kinda tricky for me. But I'm really good at screwing stuff up for people," Grace giggled cheekily.
A vein pulsed in Kikuoka's neck, but before he could respond the Sword Golem bellowed menacingly and smashed the capsule aside, advancing on the wizards and warriors.
"Relax, I got this!" Grace declared, and reality convulsed. A flickering wedge of warped space cleaved at the Sword Golem, cutting into it like a steak on a chopping block and splitting it from shoulder to hip. With a loud clatter, the upper-left part of its body fell away and crashed to the ground.
"When did you learn to do that?" Cal spluttered.
Grace sauntered forward, reality flickering around her hands and a feral smile emerging on her lips that bared her fangs. "I've decided that I shouldn't hold back anymore. Now, how about we discuss your surrender?"
Kikuoka's eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape, but he paused, hearing a clatter of metal. All four people turned to watch as the Sword Golem's frayed edges liquified and flowed back together, sealing up the cracks and quickly repairing all the damage.
"Grace, he said they made that thing out of an insane TFEI. It can heal itself!" Cal exclaimed, backpedaling.
"Yes. Good," Kikuoka regained his composure, striding to the side of the room and addressing the monster. "Now, Sword Golem! Destroy them!"
The monster slowly, ponderously, turned to look at him. Then there was a flash of light on steel as it struck.
Grace threw up a spatial distortion to eat the blow.
But it hadn't aimed at her.
Kikuoka spluttered, coughing up blood, as he looked down at the massive golden blade bisecting his chest.
The Sword Golem's purple gem-eyes glinted in an unrecognisable emotion that could only be described as ungenerosity, and then it drew its arm back, leaving a gaping wound in its former captor's chest.
"But . . we're . . the good guys," The man's dying words were a faint echo as he collapsed to the ground in a pool of his own blood. His spectacles fell from his face and shattered into glittering dust.
No one spared him a glance, their focus directed at the Sword Golem, who had halted for a moment.
"Hey," Cal sheathed his sword and raised his hands placatingly. "Are you . . on our side?"
The Sword Golem's expressionless face panned across the four of them, before settling on the unconscious Yui. Slowly, deliberately, it raised a blade and pointed it at her.
In an instant Kirito was between it and his daughter, swords raised to deflect a blow that didn't come.
The Sword Golem nodded approvingly, then, suddenly, the eight blades that formed its exposed rib cage fell away and landed on the ground. Moving of their own accord, they carved scratches into the ground, aided by the warped TFEI's metal legs, before reassembling as it retreated a few steps, leaving crude but legible letters.
SH LK MI PTCT HR
"She like me, protect her," Cal interpreted. "I was right?" he questioned in disbelief. Grace cast him a concerned look; why had he brought it up if he'd thought he was wrong? "I mean, of course I was right. I'm always right," he hastily added.
The Sword Golem bowed respectfully, then turned away and sliced at the air. Shockwaves burst out of its blades, punching a massive hole in the side of Rath and exposing the open ocean. It unceremoniously strode forwards, until there was no ground underneath it and it sunk into the ocean.
Kirito watched it sink into the depths. "Is it committing suicide?"
"Naah. TFEI don't need to breathe, especially not that one. It'll probably sink to the bottom of the ocean and start walking," Cal guessed.
"Should we be worried about what it'll do once it reaches land?" Grace posited.
"Is there anything we can do?" Cal retorted.
"I suppose not," she shrugged.
As Kirito hoisted Yui's prone form onto his shoulders and they turned to leave, the greenette shot her fellow young Phoenix a sly smile. "So, you're always right?"
"Yep! I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken," Cal brightly informed her.
A second later, he realised what he'd said. "Wait - I mean -"
Grace just giggled. "Riiiiiight,"
Cal decided not to respond to that, instead taking one last look at the open ocean before they left the damaged room.
He frowned. "Hey, Grace? Kirito? Is it just me, or do I see ships in the distance?"
"Huh? Well, sure, Betty's -" Grace followed his gaze and stopped dead. Grimacing, she opened a distortion at her maximum range, pointed at the foremost ship, and stuck her head into it.
She pulled out, looking pale, and tapped open her Transponder Snail. "Guys, we have a problem,"
~St0rm C0m1ng~
"So, tell me more about this Project . . Alicization, was it?" Artorias requested.
"Yeah, exactly. The original goal was to build an Artificial Labile Intelligent Cybernated Existence, or an ALICE. Ideally, an ALICE is an artificial brain that can be used to operate any number of machines or weapons, without the liability that is the human body. Most war machines have one key design flaw; they become useless if you kill the operator. Dr. Kogami's plan was to use TAE bodies to generate mature ALICEs, who could then be temporarily removed from their bodies and used as the control units of unmanned weapons platforms,"
"So, you were going to rip out a TFEI's brain and plug it into a giant gun or something?" Artorias was trying very hard not to sound judgemental. Takeru had probably heard enough of that from Blue.
"I mean, we were going to put them back after," the technician mumbled. "Their bodies are already weapons as is, this just allows flexibility,"
Artorias nodded sagely, looking away and noticing that the massive surveillance Transponder Snail's eyes were flashing red. "Takeru? Is it supposed to be doing that?"
"Huh? Oh, that's just the approaching ship alarm. I thought I turned it off after you all got here," Takeru mumbled, tapping a few times on his Archive screens. "Wait . . this can't be right. It thinks there are dozens of ships in formation approaching Rath,"
"Is it the Marines?" Artorias immediately asked.
"No, Marines wouldn't register as intruders. This is someone else. I'll pull up a visual," The image of the TFEI village vanished, replaced by an ocean. Cutting a wake through that sea was an inordinately massive galleon, painted in stripes with white trim and alternately red and pink sails. At its prow was a massive lemon meringue with a face carved into it. It was flanked by a medley of other ships, all bearing similar designs and the same candified Jolly Roger.
"SHIIIIIIIIIIII-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!" the figurehead suddenly bellowed.
The blood drained out of Takeru's face. "Is - is that . ."
Suddenly Artorias' Transponder Snail popped open and Grace's voice came out of it. "Guys, we have a problem,"
~St0rm C0m1ng~
"I can see it!" Big Mom bellowed, pointing her sausage-like fingers at the Rath Facility. "Onwards, my dearies. We will have our revenge!"
"Yes mama!" the Big Mom Pirates chorused.
A/N
A/N
Did you think we were done with the Big Mom Pirates? Hahahahahahahaha no.
Anyway, this chapter got existential! Sorry guys, I know you're all here to watch people hit each other, but someone asked me for sympathetic villains a while back. So I decided to take a crack at a more ideological fight than normal this chapter. Rest assured, there'll still be plenty of hitting things in the coming chapters. In the meantime you'll just have to settle for Blue's killer left hook. Actually, let's watch that again, shall we?
"You, who has no right to stop us, ask me why? We did it because we could,"
Suddenly a blue fist struck him in the face, twisting his head to the side. Blue was livid.
. . Would have been more effective if this was on TV. Anyway. I estimate five or six more chapters in this story arc. Rath should be over by Chapter 162 or 163. Making it the longest story arc to date! Whoo! And we still have four arcs and at least one spinoff to go! Peace!
~St0rm C0m1ng~
"That's the situation? Concerning," Cardinal's voice echoed in Asakura's ears as she forwarded Blue's data to the Data Overmind.
"Well, she already told me what she wants me to do, so unless you want to pull rank and change my orders," Asakura was already sulkily walking away as she spoke, Cardinal never wanted to pull rank and change one of his TFEIs' orders to her, "I'll get to it,"
"Wait," her god commanded, and Asakura froze.
"B/0297, Fairy Blue, is . . young. Naive. She's not as experienced as most TFEI, given her rather recent creation," Cardinal mused. "However, her relationships with Fairy Tail and Phoenix's Eye make her the lynchpin of the successful execution of Full Revolution. We need to keep her happy, so if asked I will deny this interaction and I expect you to do so as well, B/121,"
Asakura's eyes widened and she giggled with glee. "Are you saying . ."
"I veto Fairy Blue's instructions regarding Dr. Kiyoshi Kogami. Your primary objective on this mission is to end his life and ensure that his knowledge can never be appropriated by the Canopy. Make it look like an accident if possible, but I am prepared to falsify a disciplinary charge if you need to be overt," Cardinal ordered.
The psychopathic schoolgirl threw her arms up with glee. "I get to kill someone! Yaaay!"