Toshi kissed Dae's cheek. "Setsuko is coming over to check on you, so be a good patient."
Dae nodded slowly, "She doesn't need to worry about me.."
"Are you kidding? She needs to worry about all of us cause we're nuts."
"I'm not nuts. I haven't been in the psych ward in a long while.."
"But you stay with us escapees.." Toshi teased with a laugh.
Dae chuckled softly as Axel appeared, "Breakfast is ready whenever you want it."
Toshi nodded. "Thanks, babe. Any sign of Suko yet?"
"Not yet." Axel answered before looking at Dae, "Need help getting up?"
Dae sighed, "Probably.."
Axel came over and held out his arms, helping Dae who stood on shaky legs. "At least you're standing now."
"Barely." Dae answered bitterly.
"Hey now, be nice. A few days ago you couldn't even do that. So you're improving. Don't be a bitch." Toshi admonished.
Dae grumbled but nodded.
The doorbell rang.
"That's probably her," Axel said softly. "Let's get you to the couch."
Toshi helped Axel, then grabbed Jaroria. "Maybe she'll cheer you up."
Dae chuckled slightly and took Jaroria. "Hi baby."
Jaroria smiled up at him and then began playing with a toy she had.
Axel opened the door and smiled, "Hey Suko."
"Hey, Axel. I brought a friend, if that's okay?"
Axel looked over and nodded, "Dae's being a bit grumpy today but we're trying to cheer him up." He looked at the friend, "I'm Axel."
"Natalia."
"Nice to meet you. Come on in."
Setsuko smiled at Natalia before entering.
"What's that smile for?"
"Just don't forget to expect something a bit different."
"Tell Suko hi," Dae said to Jaroria.
Both the toddler and Dae waved at Suko.
Suko smiled, "This is my friend Natalia."
Dae gave her a small smile, "Welcome."
"Thank you." She nudged Suko. "Looks completely normal."
Suko just chuckled.
"Axel, I guess take her so Suko can check me over." Dae motioned to the toddler.
"Daddy!" She laughed as Axel picked her up and swung her around.
Setsuko moved to Dae and helped him stand. He stood shakily, holding onto her for support.
"Looks like you're doing a lot better. I'm sure with more work you can get back to normal."
"My wings are tired of carrying me," Dae admitted with a chuckle.
Natalia was looking around when suddenly she was slammed into.
"Sorry!" A disembodied pair of voices chorused in unison.
"Kids, be good, we have guests," Axel said as he looked up.
"Yes, Dad." The voices materialized into two teen boys, their eyes glowing green. "Just hiding from Taji."
"Why are you hiding from Taji?" Dae asked.
"Raito messed with his grades online…" One of the boys said as the other hit him in the arm.
"Snitch.."
Natalia sat down in a chair hard.
"Fix it," Dae ordered.
Suddenly, Siu appeared in the living room. "Hey."
"What's up?" Axel asked.
"Do I need a reason to visit my twins?"
"Usually." Dae answered.
Siu chuckled, "The other house was getting a bit loud and Fia is too busy to hang out."
"Ohh, so you wanted to hang out with her more than us?" Axel asked, pretending to be hurt.
Siu rolled his eyes and smacked Axel's arm.
Toshi laughed, then glanced at Natalia. He nudged Suko. "I think we broke her."
Setsuko sighed and moved to Natalia, "You okay?"
"Triplets and materializing kids…"
"Technically, we're twins." Dae smirked. "Siu and I. Axel's just my clone."
"Clone?!" Natalia squeaked.
"Yeah. That's why the kids call him Dad too, since he's basically me."
"Same memories up to the point I was created," Axel added. "So the kids just have three dads instead of two."
Natalia looked about to faint.
Axel set Jaroria down and crouched beside Natalia's chair. He then sent calming energy into her.
"Good thing we didn't do this at the other house." Toshi chuckled softly before asking "Why was it getting loud over there anyway?"
"Not sure, just felt a bit overwhelming, even locked in my room," Siu answered.
"Ten bucks says Eien went hyper again." Renn whispered to Raito.
Axel chuckled, "If this place is quiet in comparison, I'm glad I'm not there."
Dae laughed before trying to push himself up off the couch.
Toshi was at his side in seconds, waiting.
Dae sighed as he shook. His knees gave out, and even though Toshi caught him, he let out a small cry of frustration.
"It's okay, baby."
"No, it's not." Dae answered quietly before sprouting his wings and flying out of the room.
Natalia looked thoughtful as Toshi left the house and slammed the door behind him.
Axel sighed, "Sorry about them."
Natalia sent him a gentle smile. "It's alright. Can you ask him if he'll talk to me?"
"Alright." Axel disappeared for a minute, coming back with Dae who looked like he had just been crying.
"I don't mean to intrude and feel free to refuse, but would you allow me to make braces for you?"
Dae raised an eyebrow, "Why? And how do they work?"
"Because I want to help. And they simply attach to your legs, under your clothes to hold your body up until you heal fully. Nothing funny." She smiled at his arm. "I'm glad it works well."
"You helped with that?"
"I designed the basics of it."
"Thank you."
"No need to do that. It's my job after all."
"Dae!" Tsubasa appeared. "Need a little help."
"What's up?" Dae sighed.
"Please write a refill for Zai. Jenni's still at the conference and he's losing it. Locked himself in his room and won't answer anyone."
"Okay." Dae answered. Axel went and grabbed Dae's work bag for him. Dae quickly wrote out a script and handed it over. "Make sure he keeps on them. Refill sooner so he doesn't run out."
"He's been getting worse. Wouldn't have run out until next week, but he's taking more."
Dae nodded, "We'll talk to Jenni and get him on a higher dose permanently."
"Thanks." Tsubasa waved and vanished.
"Where's Tosh?" Dae glanced at Axel.
"He left."
Dae sighed, "Go find him?"
Dae caught up with Setsuko for a bit as Axel teleported to Toshi.
The Kio was sitting in his car, eyes closed.
"Tosh?" Axel asked softly.
He jolted, eyes flying open.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Just wanted to check on you." Axel sighed.
"My fault. Didn't think anyone was looking." Toshi shook his head. "What's up?"
"I wanted to check on you, but so did Dae. He was crying when I went into the room but I got him out and he's talking to Suko and Natalia. She offered to make him braces. I can't exactly imagine how he's feeling but if it's like when we got our arm cut off, he's probably really worried. He felt so hopeless when that happened and he's probably just worried he'll reach that point again if he doesn't get better. We don't want to be useless and without legs, he feels useless." Axel shook his head, "Just figured I'd let you know what he's thinking. Though you know him almost as well as I do."
"Always helps to have a translator." Toshi gave a weak smile. "And he's not useless. I could always sell his organs on the black market." His eyes twinkled.
Axel laughed. "That's true."
"You know, Dae would have hit me for that crack." Toshi said quietly before holding his head.
"You okay?"
"Feel like I did when the chip malfunctioned the second time Org had me.."
Axel frowned and forced energy into Toshi. He tried to dispel any pain before suggesting, "Why don't we get you to bed to rest?"
Toshi's eyes were dazed as he stood, one hand hidden from view.
"Come on," Axel put a hand on Toshi's shoulder.
In a flash, there was a knife in Axel's chest as Toshi's eyes flashed repeatedly. "Cheap imitation of damaged goods."
Axel stared at him a moment as he fell to his knees. He suddenly vanished, using the last of his strength to get to Kazue.
Dae waved as Setsuko and Natalia left. He leaned back on the couch with a sigh.
The front door opened, Toshi striding in.
"Hey." Dae looked up. "Did Axel find you?"
"The cheap imitation? Yeah, he found me." Toshi's eyes gleamed.
Dae frowned, "What do you mean imitation? That doesn't sound like you."
"Don't mind me." Toshi answered just as Renn and Raito emerged from their room. Suddenly, there was a blur of motion as Toshi slashed at the pair.
When they were on the floor, he gave a bloody crazed grin to Dae.
Dae quickly flew up, teleporting the boys away. "What is wrong with you, Tosh? This isn't you.."
"Why should I listen to damaged goods?" Toshi sneered, licking the knife.
Dae looked at Toshi in surprise for a moment before sighing. He tried to sense the energies in Toshi's mind to see what was wrong.
"So depressed and 'woe is me' that I put myself in mortal danger to bring your mother back. I should have killed you in the beginning. Would have saved myself the hassle of dealing with your crying and your annoying kids." He advanced, the knife slashing at Dae's wings before going for his throat.
Dae fell as his wings were ripped into with the knife. He just stared at Toshi in shock and sadness, not even fighting back.
"So weak without your legs, aren't you? Useless just like you think." Toshi's knife paused above Dae's jugular. "Maybe I should let you live. And before you get any ideas, this is the real me. I was just pretending before." He pulled off his rings and dropped them beside Dae before turning and leaving the house.
Dae just laid there, not even trying to move. The pain in his wings was overwhelming but he zoned it out as his heart felt like it was ripped apart. Tears streaked his face, not caring to wipe them away.
Taji crept out as he heard the door close. He gasped in shock as he glimpsed Dae, rushing to the Fae's side.
Toshi continued through the neighborhood, attacking anyone he saw until he was drenched in blood and laughing maniacally.
Axel weakly pushed himself up, "Gotta stop Toshi.."
"We'll stop Toshi." Naoto said firmly as Kiba listened to a walkie talkie reporting details.
Zai nodded. "You need to rest."
"Dae's in trouble though.." Axel looked over at Renn and Raito who Kazue was healing. "If he's even alive.."
"Go see. But leave Toshiro to us." Kiba's voice was grim.
"He wouldn't do this.. There has to be something wrong."
"Doesn't matter. He's slaughtering anyone he comes across. Getting reports of at least fifteen people so far." Kiba turned to Torazo. "He may be headed here. If he does, put him down by any means necessary. Don't let your sympathy cloud your judgement."
Torazo simply bowed as the vampyres went out the door.
Axel headed out, aiming to revive those Toshi had taken out. He knew Toshi would feel terrible about it if they got his mind cleared so he'd do what he could to help.
Toshi laughed as he saw the vampyres. "Sending out the B team, are they?"
Zai snarled as Naoto grew exasperated. "Careful furry boy. I'll let blondie loose."
Toshi laughed harder. "The one who relied on others to give him a name? I'm more scared of that half breed toddler."
With that statement, Naoto snapped. His fangs extended as he hissed in fury, then both he and Zai were on Toshi. They sank their teeth in as he slashed at them with a bloody knife.
It slowly dropped as he sank to his knees. Finally, he lay drained on the pavement as the vampyres backed away in horror.
Kiba swallowed hard, then bundled Toshi into a bodybag. "Go home. I'll take him to Stormvault." He carried him toward the waiting van as the two disappeared.
Axel eventually arrived at Stormvault, looking at Kiba. "Victims were taken care of. I'm exhausted, but I want to know what happened to Toshi. He wouldn't just snap like that."
"It no longer matters. He was taken down an hour ago. We put him on ice in case Dae wants to see him before he's disposed of."
Axel sighed, "He said some pretty harsh things to Dae.. but it does matter because we can revive him if we can fix what's wrong."
"Orders from the Prime Minister. He is not to be revived. There is no guarantee you can fix whatever has gone wrong. We can't endanger the public again. Once Dae and whoever wants to say goodbye, he will be cremated."
Axel nodded, then vanished.
Twenty minutes later, he reappeared at Stormvault, going into the room Toshi was being held, then carried him out to a lab. He placed him on a table and restrained him before setting up a transfusion. After a bit, he began the process of reviving Toshi.
"You better have written orders to do that." Kiba said gravely. "Else I'll have to stop you."
"Dad talked to the PM." He replied, then added, "I'm hoping we can fix the problem, but I've sworn to re-kill him if we can't. After what he said to Dae.. as much as I love him, I'll be pissed if there wasn't a good reason for his actions." He got Toshi breathing again and watched him closely. He began studying Toshi's mind, assessing the brain waves going through it. "There's something wrong. Something is affecting his brain.." He looked thoughtful, "Tosh did mention it felt like when the chip malfunctioned before he went crazy, so there is something causing this. We just have to figure out what. I'd guess the Org, but I can't be sure until I go check.."
Toshi's eyes flew open and he began to cackle madly upon seeing Axel. "Not dead? Well, I'll correct that.." His claws sliced through the restraints and he sat up. "Should I be nice or make it hurt?"
Axel took a deep breath. He knew the restraints wouldn't keep Toshi long but he had hoped it would last longer than that. He closed his eyes for a moment, "I'm sorry.. I swear I'll try to fix you." He pushed energy into Toshi, just enough to mess with his heartbeat and shut it down.
Toshi crumpled, his eyes clearing seconds before closing.
Axel let out a small sob before lifting Toshi and laying him back down. "Don't cremate him yet. I'm going to the Org." He vanished, reappearing at the last known Org base.
"Look, it's Wings 2." A man lounged outside the base smoking a cigarette. "You don't want to go in there."
"Why?" Axel raised an eyebrow.
"You'll either be shot or chipped." The man shrugged. "If you don't mind, ignore me."
Axel sighed, "Thanks for the warning, but I have to save someone and I have a feeling the Org is behind it."
"You mean that machine." The man put out his cigarette.
"Probably. Any chance you can point me in the right direction?"
"Why don't you let me take it out?"
"I mean zero offense, but I don't really trust anyone with the Org."
"Guess I can understand that. Just don't like seeing nice people get hurt."
"Thanks." Axel nodded before entering. He focused and tried to sense the energies of those in the building. He began taking them out one by one as he walked down the hall.
Several charged at him.
He began shooting ice spears at them, taking most of them down quickly.
There was a ripping sound from behind him.
Axel glanced back quickly.
The man he'd spoken to stood holding a head, the body on the ground with a large weapon in hand. "Saw him about to shoot you."
"Thanks." Axel continued on taking out people until the hall was empty. "Where is the machine?"
"End of hall on your left."
"I owe you one," Axel said before heading down the hall and turning.
The man chuckled, dropping the head and heading the other direction.
Axel found a large machine and began shooting it full of ice shards. Sparks flew from it with each wire cut.
"HEY!" Several scientists appeared, clipboards in hand.
Axel sighed and shot at them.
They scattered, several going down. One yelled "Kai! You're helping?"
The man who had helped Axel entered with a bitter smile. "There a reason I shouldn't? You cause more suffering than I ever did."
"Fine. If you refuse to obey.." The scientist brought out a remote and stabbed one button repeatedly.
The man screamed, blood pouring from his nose as he fell to his knees.
Axel quickly took down the scientists and went to the man. He forced energy into him, "You'll be alright now. I have a friend who can remove your chip so they can't hurt you anymore."
"Let me die.."
"Not going to happen. I'll visit you soon, okay?" He teleported the man to Setsuko before vanishing. He arrived back at Stormvault and began working on Toshi once again. He got the other man breathing, then sat down in a chair, his exhaustion obvious.
Kiba sighed. "What happened?"
"Just beat up some people. Saved someone. Destroyed a machine."
"Another stray?" Kiba tried not to laugh.
"You know Dae and I can't help ourselves."
"Can't argue, Dae saved me."
Axel smiled for a moment before resting his head on the bed Toshi was on.
"You should get some sleep. Go home. I'll send kitty home when he wakes, if he's coherent."
"He'll feel terrible if he remembers what he did, especially to Dae. So you might need to do some damage control. I need sleep, but I need to see how Dae's doing first." He gave a wave before vanishing.
Axel arrived home and looked at Taji, "How's he doing?"
"Wings are hurt bad. But he just lies there and stares at the wall. I couldn't do anything.." The boy burst into tears.
Axel wrapped him in a hug, "It's okay. He's going to be alright. It's been a long time since he's dealt with such hard times, but it is his normal in those situations to just blank out and stare at the wall. He was in the psych ward once for almost six months just doing that, but I'm hoping this isn't going to be as bad as that. You've helped a lot just by being here for him, okay?"
Taji sniffed, then nodded. "Just hate seeing him like that. Why was Toshi so mean? It was like he was a different person. He said he couldn't stand us…"
"He was being controlled by the Organization. The real Toshi didn't mean any of that."
"I'll kill them!"
"Don't worry, I've killed a lot of them already. Toshi's alive and Kiba is going to keep an eye on him for us."
Taji nodded again before stepping away. "Better go help him."
Axel nodded, "Alright." He headed into the room and looked at Dae. "Tosh should be back to normal and will be home at some point via Kiba."
Dae nodded slowly, "Alright."
"I just don't have the strength right now to heal your wings, if you need anything, wake me, but I swear I'll heal them first thing once I get some rest."
Dae didn't answer, just looked over at Axel who was climbing into the bed beside him. He then looked back at the wall.
Hours later, the phone began repeatedly ringing.
"Hello?" Dae picked up the phone, voice quiet.
"Where's Axel?" Kiba's voice was exasperated.
Dae gently shook Axel who rolled over and took the phone, "Axel here."
"Kitty has lost his mind again. Not the same way though. He won't listen to me."
"Be right there," Axel stood and straightened out his clothes before vanishing. "Tosh?"
"Come to say Dae hates me? Guess I shouldn't expect to see him in person..not after what I did."
"He doesn't hate you. He's just resting since I was a bit too tired to heal him yet."
"Just be truthful, dammit!" Toshi whirled to face him. "I was beyond evil. He won't want me and with good reason. Just stop pretending and go."
Axel grabbed Toshi's collar, "I am being truthful, you dumbass! We love you no matter what. Yes, he's hurting right now, but he isn't mad at you and doesn't hate you. He just blames the Org. He needs you to help him. Even if he doesn't see it as you causing it, the things you said just solidified things he's been telling himself. He needs you to help pull him out of it."
"I hurt you..killed people.. Oh gods, the boys! And his wings..I can't do this.." Toshi tried to sink to his knees.
Axel wrapped his arms around him. "I'm fine. The boys are fine. I revived everyone you killed, they are fine. Literally, the only thing I haven't taken care of is Dae's wings. This was not your fault."
"I still did it!" Toshi sobbed uncontrollably. "I do nothing but hurt people.."
"You do so much more. You are a wonderful and caring person. I know the memories of what you've done will haunt you, but we'll be there to help you through it."
"You should help Dae. I didn't mean what I said..but I don't deserve to see any of them again. Just go and don't come back."
Axel shook his head, "We'll help Dae together." He teleported them to the bedroom. Dae looked up and Axel nodded.
"Hey, Tosh. How are you feeling?" Dae asked softly.
The Kio refused to answer, huddling on the end of the bed.
"Toshi.. I don't blame you for anything you said or did."
"I blame me. How can you not?"
"You weren't yourself. And I'm sorry you blame yourself but it was not your fault."
Toshi squeezed his eyes shut and huddled tighter.
Axel still had one arm around Toshi then Dae pulled himself over and wrapped Toshi into a tight hug.
Toshi flinched.
"I don't know how to help you exactly, but I'm here for you no matter what," Dae whispered.
"Why?" Toshi's voice was soft and agonized.
"I love you. And I know it wasn't your fault. I'll keep reminding you of it until you believe it yourself."
Toshi broke free, his eyes wild. "I killed people! I killed the boys! Almost did the same to you and Axel! I said..I said…" He broke down and put his face in his hands.
"Baby, none of it was your fault."
"My hands.." The rest of the sentence was garbled.
"It still wasn't your fault." Axel repeated. "How do you think I feel having to kill you? I get it. But you need to let things go and accept it wasn't your fault that all this happened. It was the Org's fault and that's that."
Slowly Toshi lifted his head, eyes confused. "How was it Org's fault? And what do you mean, killed me?"
"The Org had a machine sending out waves into your brain. They controlled you without a chip. But I went and took it down. However, the vamps took you down to stop you, but I had to revive you to see what was going on. You woke and were nuts still so I had to stop you... I then went and destroyed the machine and came back and revived you again.." Axel said quietly.
Toshi sat quiet for a minute. "I vaguely remember the vamps. I don't remember you at all. And I am completely horrified at the thought of a machine doing what the chips did."
"We'll make sure they don't build any more." Axel said softly.
Dae nodded, "I'll do my best to help too."
"The boys..are they going to hate me?"
"I doubt it. Especially once they know it was the Org's fault." Axel answered. "They're safe with Kazue right now. Except Taji, who was here and really confused and worried but doesn't hate you."
"Okay.." Toshi looked at him through heavy lids.
"You two need sleep," Axel announced before standing. He helped Dae move back to the pillows then lifted Toshi and moved him to the other side and tucked him in. He then moved back to Dae's side and began healing the wings.
When he was done, he slipped from the room and noticed a missed call. He responded, "Hey Suko."
"I assume it was you sending me this patient?"
"Yeah, there was an incident and Dae's wings were messed up so he couldn't really do much of anything."
"Ouch."
"Yeah. He'll be okay though. How's the new stray coming along?"
"Chip removed successfully."
"Good. I'll be there tomorrow to visit. Maybe I'll bring Dae to get him out of the house too."
"That would be nice. Oh.. it is strange though. He has black wings?"
Axel frowned, "Okay?"
"But he seems like an angel.."
"Must be a fallen angel then?" Axel looked thoughtful. "We don't have much experience with angels but we'll figure it out, I guess."
"Alright.. As long as you've got things handled."
"Don't worry, Suko. We'll take care of him, you just heal up what you can."
"Alright. Talk to you tomorrow."
"Night."