Long nails dragged across a solid metal surface.
"You said that this wouldn't happen."
Lengthy red horns sprouted forth from between waves of pink hair.
"It's only going to get worse."
Empty turquoise eyes stared apathetically through a wall.
"She won't last if this continues."
A limp body sprawled out on its side, skin bare against a cold floor.
"Just… give me some more time. I will make it work."
/
Massive flaps of black flesh swung back in forth in the clouds, the vaporous water particles around them being gusted about like dust blown from an old book cover. Illustrious patterns covered the entirety of the two enormous wings that thrashed powerfully against the chilly midnight gale that rolled over the earth's forlorn shell. A pair of monstrous antennae sprouted from an obsidian appendage that resembled a head, glowing azure bulbs adorning the tops of the gigantic stalks. The massive thorax of the insectoid beast was ribbed with crevices of scintillating sapphire energy, the voltage refusing to remain sheathed within the beast's core. A metal chassis, plates of white and blue reflecting moonlight, streaked through the stratosphere like a bolt of lightning released from Zeus' palm. Clouds were dragged along by the sheer velocity of the darting object, their shapes stretching into long spires that trailed the mech's path, lines of white littering the midnight atmosphere.
Ichigo struggled to breathe as she was winded for the third time from accidentally relenting control of Delphinium. Blood pumped like tidal waves into and from her overworked heart, her veins and arteries bulging through her skin like rebellious prisoners sealed in the depths of her epidermis. Sweat consistently leaked forth from all her pores, the tight material of her suit feeling like a sarcophagus around her, causing her to scrape at her neck for any oxygen she could gather. She cursed her every exhalation, knowing she would be incapable of retrieving the amount she released. Her mind struggled to keep up with the insane speeds at which the Franxx propelled itself as she quickly became more and more lightheaded with each passing second. Her dazed state reflected on the mech's movements, the avian-like frame spinning wildly against the wind around it, flipping and rolling like a falcon with a clipped wing. Ichigo shook her head willfully, trying to clear her repressed cognitive functions and reclaim the ability to pilot her mech. Given an instant of respite from the overdose of energy that permeated throughout her system, she focused her sights on the airborne klaxosaur that slowly progressed towards them. She snarled aggressively, drool sliding from her thin lips and mingling with the small puddle of sweat beneath her. Ichigo leaned forwards in her seat as she charged towards the butterfly-like creature.
Her focus faded as briefly as it came, Delphinium beginning to spiral uncontrollably on its collision course with the klaxosaur, clouds visibly twisting into a cyclone about the exterior of the mech. It was like gravity wielded her as a dagger, heaving the machine into the beast with ravenous intensity. The beak of Delphinium ripped through the thin, fleshy sheet of the klaxosaur's wing like a cannonball tearing through sheets of paper. Royal-blue blood entwined with the clouds that wreathed about the mech's trajectory, a tornado of the klaxosaur's vital fluids erupting from its tremendous, shadowy appendage. Ichigo's head smacked against the console beneath her, the hard metal of her helmet not cushioning the blow in the least. The klaxosaur, its ability to fly steadily now damaged, awkwardly attempted to remain in flight, flapping its wings desperately. Ichigo raised her bruised forehead upwards again to see the behemoth was still approaching Cerasus at dangerous speeds. She attempted to turn the mech about face and shoot after the klaxosaur again, but upon shifting the yaw of her vehicle she immediately lost all stability, the speed at which she was accelerating and the air around her hurling her with the temper of an angry child throwing his toy. The out of control body of Delphinium careened into the wasteland below, skidding for thousands of feet before slowing to a painful halt, a path of shattered, dry dirt scarring the earth it had skidded past. Ichigo was knocked completely unconscious by the blunt trauma of her impact with the ground, the crumpled wings of her Franxx instinctively wrapping about its form in an effort to shield itself.
Far above, the blood seeking arthropod finally fell from the sky as it lost the last of its ability to remain airborne. Hugging its wings to its injured abdomen, the klaxosaur spiralled into the dead sands only thousands of meters away from the metal walls of the Plantation. The insides of the beast began to glare brightly during its plunge, the innards of the animal exploding like a beacon of blue in the dark, nocturnal backdrop that encompassed it. Its skin began to morph and stretch as if a demon within was trying to burst forth from its solid confines, blue columns of fire bellowing from the canyons of cerulean that covered its descending corpse. Ichigo peered from between Delphinium's battered wings and held her breath.
The massive frame of the klaxosaur collided with the planet, an obelisk of disturbed dust being blasted into the heavens. Shrapnel in the form of loosened rocks were launched by the thousand in a volley in all directions, their sharp stone edges lacerating the exterior shell of the plantation before any sound was even released from the explosion. From within the detonation of dirt, a glowing ball of blue fire was visible welling up. The waves of brown air that were previously rolling violently across the badlands were completely devoured by an avalanche of wispy blue flames that expanded ceaselessly outwards from the klaxosaur's impact point. The dome of hellish inferno tore through the world like wildfire, the desolate land being eaten in voracious chunks as the ever expanding supernova struggled to satiate its desire for material sustenance. The sturdy metal of Cerasus was slammed into by the furthest reaches of the explosion and the devilish, blue fire melted the alloy like butter submerged into a volcano. And finally, a clap akin to the howl of a lamenting god, blasted across the scarred lands of Mother Earth, its volume kicking up another layer of virgin dirt into the already sand lavish void. The moon fell into its coffin in the west and the weary sun dawned in the east, peeking its eyes over the horizon, horrified and searching for answers in the charred devastation before it.
/
An immense breach in the plantation's hull leaked morning sunlight into the open expanse of its previously hidden empire, the once glorious, golden towers now an ugly grey in the embrace of the colorful sunrise. Hiro's eyes scanned the ever empty streets of the inner city from his position on a descending elevator. Cerasus inhaled smog like it was oxygen, thick clouds of smoke flowing steadily through the hole punched into its shell. Hiro's face was apathetic as the elevator doors opened to his destination. He hesitated within the steel pod, his eyes flickering in uncertainty, questions clouding his brilliant-blue orbs. Releasing a pensive sigh he wheeled forth from the chamber and into the cold hallways of the plantation, the familiar corridors and their mundane features doing little to comfort his overclocked mind. He knew they'd flown. And he also knew that it still wasn't good enough. He raised his head realizing he was passing through the docking bay.
Delphinium was piled into a corner of the room, its frame charred black and its metal melted together in some places. The effects of the klaxosaur's explosion were evident on the wrecked physique before him. He returned his head to his feet and continued by the rest of Squad 13's broken mechs. He rolled silently through the passages of Cerasus' levels, doubt and controversy plaguing his face. A slight, occasional creaking from his chair and the perpetual sound of his wheels pushing against the ground were the only sounds in the otherwise vacant facility.
Hiro eventually snapped out of his ponderment only to realize he'd arrived at the boarding house, the dirt beneath his chair sinking slightly under the weight of his transport. The sun that was now high in the sky was beating down on his back, the thin fabric of his uniform doing little do shield him from the fire raining onto him. He weakly pushed against his rims, moving up the access ramp beside the stairs, and entered the wooden building. He returned to the infirmary he had just left hours ago, the planks of the floor still marked where Ichigo's tears had fallen.
Ichigo. He moved to her now occupied bed and examined the girl's unconscious form. A soft bruise purpled her left cheek and her lips were slightly askew, features wrenched in worry. The strands of her blue hair were tied back above her forehead with a single hair tie, a damp cloth pressed against her head beneath it. Most prominently, a massive burn mark covered the entire right side of her face. The malformed skin started at her neck and ran up her posterior to the edges of her scalp, the discoloration completely contrasting her usually vivacious complexion. The sheets of the bed were perfectly folded over her chest, like someone had used a ruler to line up the individual layers across her body. Maintaining eye contact with her gruesome injuries was like repeatedly stabbing himself with a needle, guilt puncturing him deeply.
The sound of a page turning caused Hiro to examine his surroundings within the infirmary for the first time since he had arrived. Cross legged sitting in a wooden chair in the corner of the room, Nana flipped through a small handbook, the shafted light from the windows passing through the weathered pages easily. Her hair was burning bright in the sun and a long shadow was thrown of her resting silhouette.
"It might not look like it", her eyes never left the timeworn sheets of the book, "but you two saved us all." The straight line of Hiro's mouth divulged into a frown, his anger finally getting the best of him.
"Is this some sort of sick joke" blue fire blazed forth from his eyes, his tongue like a whip doused in gasoline cracking in ardour. "I'm fine with never being able to know what it's like to pilot a Franxx, to not be able to experience these missions with my own two eyes" his fingers coiled harshly against the arm rests of his chair, his already pale skin becoming strikingly more white. "Where is she" he demanded, memories of his partner skipping across his vision. Nana used the fingers of her right hand to close the book, the battered spine of the novel visibly stretching from the pages being squeezed within it.
"Nowhere of your concern" her voice was by no means hostile and for a split second something akin to empathy flickered in her eyes. The scorching rays of the sun stretched farther and farther across the wooden floor, like gluttonous limbs clawing towards their prey.
Hiro scoffed, "Of course it isn't." He shut his eyes and shook his head repeatedly, his finger tapping agitatedly against the cushions now ripping beneath his hands. "Of course" he exhaled as he opened his eyes once more. The sunlight had enveloped the members of Squad 13 in its torturous warmth, all except Ichigo, to which the beams had only sheathed half of her body in its amber clutches, her burned skin coalescing with the little darkness still present. Nana's eyes were indifferently staring at his own, but he refused to meet them, not wanting to grant her, or the organization she represented, any form of respect. His brain was lit up with disgust and rage at being denied that which it desired most. He was addicted to the drug of her turquoise eyes and the alcohol of her flirtatious voice, and was now suffering from withdrawal. A brisk breeze broke against his strained features, providing him with a moment of rationale. His thick, raven black hair glided on the gentle current, his revealed visage now the absolute image of serenity. He leaned forwards in his seat, the chair lurching into the reach of the sunlight. He'd finally found something worth fighting for. The sun wrapped its fingers around his throat gently, its light slowly rising up his clothes and his face. Perplexing, bluish-green eyes had glared life into him once more. Direct contact with her skin had allowed his husk to absorb enough essence to become human once again. Pink hair had struck him like a paintbrush, varnishing his grey surroundings in a rainbow of color. He'd be damned if he willingly slipped himself back into that mental noose he had once eagerly hid inside of. "What do I need to do" his eyes ultimately met hers, the glaring sun embracing him gladly as he ushered his vocal ultimatum.
"For what" she asked boredly, albeit having set the book down as she turned her full attention to the crippled boy before her.
"Don't play games with me Nana" Hiro shook his head quickly, dismissing her attempt at feigning ignorance. She frowned at his bold comment, not used to hearing backtalk from her charges.
"It's not for me or you to say" she declined his passionate inquiry, long, crimson locks falling from her shoulder to her lap as she turned away from Hiro. The sweltering temperatures flowing inwards hitting him directly caused sweat to form beneath his uniform.
"Wasn't this supposed to be paramount for all of us?" he flipped her words against her, his temper kindled by her verbal evasiveness. "Isn't this what Papa wanted?" he emphasized the word papa venomously.
"Don't speak of him like that, that's disrespectful" she rebutted him as if his statement had personally offended her.
"Or what?" he questioned boldly, riding the fiery tangent he had embarked upon, "I'll be kidnapped in the night?" His tone was so frigid that Nana swore she could see mist from where the syllables he released evaporated in the scorching air around his lips. She uncrossed her legs upon hearing this remark, her apathetic features finally morphing to a frown. "Your whole organization's purpose is to force kids to die for some grand scheme we'll never even know about!" his voice raised in resent. He had at last found happiness and the masked boogeymen had snatched it away in the night. "Aren't we human too? What gives you the right to sentence us to death?" he demanded ferociously. "We're supposed to fight monsters while obeying monsters? What a sick, stupid, pathetic attempt at a joke!" a drop of sweat fell from his hairline to the crevice of his brow. "Why can't you just leave us alone!" his chair squeaked from the pressure he exerted unto it. His hair fell down to cover his eyes, his body heaving in exhalations, perspiration flowing freely down his arms beneath his sleeves. For seconds the only sounds in the room were the warm breaths escaping his mouth. He eventually regained some of his composure and inclined his head to Nana again. A single, glistening tear drop slipped forth from the corner of her teal eye and rolled down across her cheek. Her face lit up in surprise as she raised a hand to the droplet, wiping it away in confusion. She examined her now wet digit completely baffled. Her features were neither sad nor happy. "Nana?" he queried, his tone infinitely softer than it was just seconds ago.
Another tear slithered from her eye and she covered her face with her hands, eyes wide directly against her palms, "Why?"
/
"Code 779, begin" an agitated voice rang through an intercom. A bald stamen inhaled steadily and steeled his resolve for his first ever mission. His muscular frame and athletic figure bulged beneath the tight black piloting suit. He'd been selected alongside a dozen or so other males of equal stature to leave the garden and participate in this specific project. The red suit of his partner for the operation was bright in the otherwise dim cockpit. Her long, pink hair fell in waterfalls and sprawled out across the cold metal below them. Two large unusual horns weighed her head down and caused her to keep her eyes trained on the ground, the growths uncomfortably heavy for her neck. He was curious, scared even, but The Doctor had instructed him that he was lucky to be contributing to his research in this way and he'd be wise to hold his tongue. And with that, Code 779 shook the fears from his mind and began to focus on his connection to the mysterious girl.
Her spine lit up in a row of orange bulbs, the metal skeleton buzzing to life as two triggered handles popped up in front of him. He grabbed hold of the grips and clasped them tightly, his forearms flexing as he squeezed them confidently. As he released a long exhale, the lights of the Franxx lit up around them, the display of the outside world appearing before him. He'd heard things from his fellow pilots about what controlling a Franxx was like. This experience failed to match any of those stories. It felt like he was punched in the gut, the startup of the mech effectively winding him. His eyes shot open in pain and his arms strained tightly, the metal controls in his hands slipping from the sweat congealing in his large palms. The pistil screamed out in a spasm below him and he struggled to turn to her, wondering if she was enduring the same agony he was. She began to jump around in her seat, her horns scraping across the floor.
The bright lights of the now active cockpit allowed Code 779 to clearly analyze his surroundings for the first time since entering the chamber. A mess of scratch marks littered the steel beneath the girl. He turned his gaze to her to realize this whole time she'd been fastened to her seat, composite ropes anchoring her down to the chassis. She relented violently against the bindings that restricted her, harrowing cries deafening Code 779's hearing. The controls that he held in his hands rapidly folded back into their compartments on her sides, the hard metal thwacking into his fingers as it went, the industrial strength of the movement injuring him and causing him to curse in even more discomfort. He clenched his hands to his chest and keeled over in his seat, gritting his teeth.
Strelitzia's catlike form growled loudly and raked its claws against the floor of the dropship it was held in. The panels beneath it suddenly slid away and the mech fell freely to the earth far below. A horde of klaxosaurs teemed about the badlands. Code 779 bit his lip in an attempt to alleviate. He'd never heard from the six pilots who'd gone before him into this experiment. He had a good idea why now. Zero Two howled out as Strelitzia crashed into the earth, a geyser of dust exploding upwards from their landing. Steam poured out of the mechs joints rapidly and constantly, shrouding the machine in a veil of white smog. Imposing red stars glared back at the klaxosaurs through the opaque fog. Fire shot up above the steam clouds as the Strelitzia burst into action, the engines on its hind legs igniting into infernal columns. The mech plunged into a swarm of thousands of blue-black klaxosaurs, using itself as a projectile. Metal was sheared and flesh was rended. Droves of monsters latched onto the feline shape of Strelitzia and it bludgeoned itself viciously against rocks and the ground to free itself. Snarling the entire time, the mech slithered across the horde like a scythe slashing across stalks of grass. Blue blood flew stories high and rained back to the ocean of azure gore below, a precipitation of horrid essence.
Code 779's eyes rolled back into his head and his jaw fell limply from his face, drool escaping his numb lips. The rapid movements of the mech broke him from his seat belts that were nowhere near strong enough to protect him from the concussive force that now launched him into the sides of the mech like a tennis ball. Blood sprayed out in splatters against the white lights of the mech, holograms sprayed in fountains of red ichor. His sturdy frame was barely able to remain in one piece, the crumpled plate of his piloting uniform covered in the blood that dribbled from his mouth.
Zero Two's forehead bulged with veins, red, glowing liquid visibly flowing within her arteries. Her mind was on fire and she was rage incarnate, unleashing death like a reaper unto the klaxosaurs who were unlucky enough to come across her. She eviscerated them using only slight notions in her mind, the absolute decimation of their kind as simple as swatting a fly to her. A buzzing sound continued to grow in the back of her mind and her ears drummed in thunderous fashion as she sliced through masses like a dervish. She banged her head against the ground below her again and again and again, her horns cracking from the force. One horn splintered into crystals of crimson, shattering at its stump on her forehead. She pushed her fingers fiercely against the alloy of the floor, her nails snapping back on themselves. The left side of her head, still cumbersome from her now single horn, pressed against the frigid metal sheets of the ground. Her cheek squished against her bared fangs and her red eyes burned holes in every direction she glanced, her pupils flicking around panickedly like a cornered and injured lioness.
The cloud of mechanical steam that enveloped Strelitzia eventually cleared out and the statue of the blue coated mech stood alone amongst a heap of klaxosaur corpses. A mass burial consumed the whole valley, evidence of her genocide against the comparably incompetent creatures. Code 779 ended up leaned against the walls of the mech, his crumpled form wheezing aberrantly. His eyelids shut slowly and he let loose a last breath, bruised arm falling limply from its position clenching his shoulder before finally crashing into the ground, fingers sprawled open and upwards. Zero Two's twitching red eyes began to slow, the pain extinguishing from her burnt nerves. Shock set in as blood slipped from her chapped lips to the floor, wrapping the fragments of her horn in puddles of sanguine red. Her tired eyelids closed drowsily and she quivered as she felt her now acidic blood flow throughout her battered body.
/
Goro shot up in his bed like he'd been shocked by defibrillators, the cloth sheets wrapped about him springing into the air, kicking up clouds of dust. He breathed rapidly, his eyes dilated and searching the room around him anxiously. He made out the figures of his squad mates beside him. A recollection of the events that caused him to be in this room made him bury his face in his lap, hands sliding through his thick, blonde hair. He'd let them down. He threw his legs over the bedside, the bare pads of his feet soft against the rugged wood of the floor. The sun was setting beyond the open window sills across the room, insect's chirps audible outside. He took a testing step and winced slightly in pain. Shrugging off the miniscule but sharp tenderness of his lower half, he rose to his feet, beige sleepwear loosely hanging from his lanky form. He moved to the bed directly adjacent to his right and examined the owner.
Kokoro's waist-long, blonde hair was spread out around her head like a bed of flowers. Her hands were crossed and resting on top of her chest above the sheets that hid most of her body from sight. Her mouth was slightly opened, like she had been bludgeoned in the middle of a cry for help. Her right eye was darkened by a large black eye. The foreign bruise had no place on her otherwise unscathed native skin. He shook his head and gritted his teeth in disgust at himself. His inability to command his squad had ended up putting them all in a critical state. What a sorry excuse of a leader he was. He swayed on his tall legs, feet shuffling in an effort to stay upright.
"Goro" a soft voice warmly crashed into his back. Casting his gaze back over his shoulders, Goro looked back to see Hiro seated at someone's bedside, his cerulean eyes studying him.
"Hiro?" he questioned in a shallow tone, the feinted pitch he spoke in barely detectable. Hiro broke eye contact and returned his attention to the body of the pistil below him. Goro trudged over eventually, the planks of the boarding house uncomfortably warm below his bare skin. As he got closer, Goro realized that the person Hiro was seated beside was Ichigo, his partner. Taking in her massive scar and her battered frame with a gasp, he collapsed to his knees beside her bed, his knees slamming painfully into the solid floor. Hiro took in his squadmate's downcast and pitiful form, a rare flicker of empathy becoming buoyant in his mind. Hiro hesitantly moved his hands to his push rims, guiding himself around the foot of Ichigo's bed and to Goro's side. He cautiously reached out with a hand, not fully knowing himself what he was doing. Goro's pained eyes curiously appraised Hiro's actions. Hiro placed his hand on his shoulder, fingers wrapping gently around the rounded body part.
"You did all you could, Goro." he stated, voice just stern enough to dissuade any rebuttal. Goro's eyes widened further and his body shook once. Twice. The six words were so short yet still meant the world to him. It was evident in Hiro's eyes that he knew exactly what Goro was feeling, and Hiro's understanding broke down dams erected in his restless mind. He toppled into a sobbing mess, launching himself into Hiro's uncertain arms, floodgates collapsing from a landslide of camaraderie. Hiro stayed completely still, his shirt dampening from Goro's tears. They did their best. And that's all anyone could ever ask of them.
(AN - yikess. action scenes and symbolism. the feedback and reads im getting are amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing, thank you everyone for reading this weird shit)