Author's note: Hello! Yay for Lily not dying! Shout out to SomeoneForeign, you are a driving force behind this little project of mine, love getting your reviews! xxxxxxxxxxxx
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Chapter 3: Wall of Shame
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006 bustled around the kitchen, serving plate after plate to 0014. Clad in an oversized hoody and her wet hair wrapped up in a towel, she shoveled food into her mouth as fast as 006 plated it. 002 looked on in amusement. "How about we just get you a trough to eat out of?" he smirked. "How abou yuu shup up," Lily responded through a mouthful. "Leave her alone, 002, she needs her strength! What do you think of my Lamian Lasagna?" 0014's head lolled back and she patted her stomach. "Suuu guuuud! Tkank yuu, zeru zeru six!" she mumbled. She pushed her chair back and stretched. "Oh, 002, did you not get the present 007 and I left on your bed, after you took off on the dino hunt? Or did you kill him already?" 0014 asked, smirking. "No, uhh, I haven't slept in my room in a few days. I'll go check it out now." Lily chuckled. He eyed her suspiciously and left. Slowly, the other cyborgs, except for 001 and 003 filtered in and took a seat at the table. When 002 had announced that 0014 was awake, they all squeezed into the lab to see her, only to be ushered away by 003, who then took her to the bathroom to clean up.
"LILY! WHAT IS THIS?!" 002's voice bellowed down the hall. 0014 looked at 007 and chuckled. "Told you he'd like it!" 002 skidded into the kitchen and slammed a sheet of paper down on the table. "This is NOT FUNNY." He glared at 0014, then 007. "To think, I was going out of mind with worry, and if…. If you didn't wake up, this is all I'd be left with?" Lily smiled up at 002. "Well, I didn't know I was gonna almost die, again." 009 sneaked his hand across the table and turned the sheet of paper over. It was a copy of the profile report for Doctor Ross that was to be filled in by Professor Gilmore, but 0014 and 007 had filled out their own version. 009 started to snicker. 002 stomped around, over to 007, grabbing him by the collar. 008 leaned over to 009 and started to read out loud.
Code: 00-Doo-doo
Name: "The one with the hair"
Age: OLD
Height: TALL
Ability: BEING TALL
Hair Color: SHOUTING
Eye Color: ANGER
002 pulled the paper away before they could read the rest. Everyone was in fits of laughter. 007 plucked it out of his hand, a giant bump forming on his forehead. 008 playfully held 002 back. "This needs to go on the wall of shame!" he announced and marched over to the fridge where there were several pieces of paper and photographs held on with colorful, souvenir magnets. He placed it beside the photograph of 002 and 0014 wearing flower crowns and spilling glasses of wine in her florist shop. "You know the rule, 002, once it goes on the wall, it cannot be removed!" 002 shoulders slumped. At least 80% of the wall was dedicated to making fun of him as it was.
Professor Gilmore and 003 carrying 001 entered the kitchen and took a seat next to 002. "I am so happy to hear laughter around here again! Are you feeling better, 0014?" Doctor Gilmore asked kindly. "Yes, Doctor. It felt like as soon as I woke up, my strength returned. Oh, and 006's amazing food helped too," she added, winking at 006. 007 cleared away the places from the table and 003 placed 001 in his basket. "I would like to run some tests on you later, 0014. I am curious to see how your energy levels have changed since you drained R-03. I would also appreciate it if you told us more about this cyborg." Lily nodded, and thanked 003 as she placed cups of coffee and tea in front of everyone. "Sure. I don't feel any different… but I am confused as to why I was knocked out so long." 001 then spoke to everyone – I believe it was due to R-03 being a far more powerful cyborg, and his power overloaded your system – 0014 thought for a moment. "I never got to thank you, 001. You saved my life. But, how did it work? How did I drain him, since he was much more powerful than me? His self-heal ability was instantaneous, whereas mine takes longer." – Because at that moment you were almost running on empty and were able to absorb his power faster than he could take yours. Imagine dropping a sponge into water. You were the sponge, and you soaked up all his power- 001 explained.
"How did you know how to destroy him, 0014? What you did was…. Pretty violent. I couldn't believe it when 009 told us," 003 queried, taking in all of 0014. 'She looks so small, and innocent…. Yet, she pulled that man's head clean off his shoulders…' 003 winced at the thought. 0014 rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, actually R-03 in avertedly reminded me… The sicko was sneering at the others, asking them how to destroy a self-healing cyborg. The answer was "pull her apart." I remembered from the test site, I saw another R Cyborg die this way. I saw that his skin and flesh was starting to crack and I called for 005 to help, as I knew 002 and 009 both took a large amount of damage. It was…. It was the worst thing I ever did." 0014 whispered, casting her gaze down. 002 looked down as well and flexed his right wrist, recalling how R-03 snapped it like a twig. 009's hand went to his stomach, remembering how it almost felt like R-03 punched straight through him.
"You did what you had to do, Lily." 002 spoke softly, placing a hand around her shoulder. "Yeah, 0014. You saved our lives," 009 added. 0014 looked up at 005 and he nodded at her, solemnly. 0014 could remember what he had said when he visited her bedside. She made a mental note to talk to him later.
"Please tell us what you know about these R cyborgs, 0014. We may have to face them again." 008's voice snapped 0014 out of her thoughts. She cleared her throat. "Well, I was introduced to R-01, R-02, and R-03. They were the next generation "Rejuvenation" cyborgs. I, as far as I know, am the last of the 00 prototype. After Professor Ryan's success with the self-heal qualities he designed in me, Black Ghost wanted that ability to be carried out in the next generation. The idea was to create cyborgs that are virtually immortal, able to heal any injury. At the test base, they pushed us to the limit." 0014's voice cracked. 002 rubbed her shoulder. "I was beaten and cut, so as to monitor my self-heal power. In battle, they learned that the adrenaline promotes faster healing time, so they set us up to battle each other constantly. As bad as that was for me, the Rejuvenation cyborgs had it worse. I saw them having their limbs ripped off and put back together. It seemed like only separation of the head and destroying the artificial spinal cord could kill them. We learned it the hard way….."
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0014 ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She was too weak to use her accelerator. Hearing the pounding footsteps of R-01 and R-03 behind her, she kept her head down and continued running. The ground below her started to quake and move. Worm like robots shot up from the ground, firing lasers at the cyborgs. 0014 grinded to halt and dropped to the ground. R-01 caught up to her, and grabbed her by her scarf. "Get up, weakling. We were told if you are destroyed, we can have the privilege of destroying the 00 Rebels." 0014 turned and looked at the young woman. Her icy blue eyes bore through 0014. Her long red hair fanned out behind her. "Get real, we will all die here," growled 0014 and spat in her silver face. She ducked out from under R-01's grip and ran in the opposite direction. Another two huge worms shot up from the ground and loomed over 0014. R-01 was at her side again. 'I hope this plan works. Time to play dead.' She rolled her eyes back and fell forward, collapsing on the sand. "0014! She's…. dead? Or she fainted?" R-01 sneered. R-03 caught up to them, firing his laser blaster at the worms. Distracted by 0014, one of the worms dove down on top of R-01, wrapping itself around her slim body. "Noooo! R-01!" R-03 called out. The other worm coiled around the first, and then around R-01's head, muffling her screams. R-03 continued firing his laser. Then there was a crunch and a disgusting stretching sound. 0014 peeked out of one eye to see R-01's head being pulled off her body by the worms. R-03 was screaming and shooting at the worms frantically. The lasers ricocheted off their metallic bodies, and hit off R-01's decapitated form. Suddenly, her remains were alight; the smell of flesh and metal burning filled the air. "Noooooooooooooooooooo!" R-03 wailed. He turned to 0014. "THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" he kicked her square in the jaw. He kicked and punched her again and again until she coughed up blood. "THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DIE!" Then suddenly, he was teleported away. So too was 0014.
0014 sat up on the floor of her personal cell. Professor Ryan stood at the entrance with two other scientists. "Congratulations, 0014. You will proceed to the next level. You are going to be sent to capture the 00 Rebels. 0014 looked up at him. Her mouth and nose bloody. She slowly nodded her head. "Thank you, sir. I will not let you down." She lay down on the floor of the cell, breathing deeply. She waited for her body to start healing, and tried to push the horrific images from her mind. 'Professor Ryan said it was the only way…. He had argued that R-Cyborgs are still too unstable to be sent after the 00 Rebels. Now, he proved it. So, we will meet the 00s and escape this hell on earth, just as we planned…..' 0014 squeezed her eyes shut and let darkness take over.
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0014 looked at the shocked faces at the table. 003 spoke first, "I am so sorry you had to go through that." 0014 gave her a sad smile. "I know all of you went through your own personal hell. I try to remind myself that this had to happen. Professor Ryan took control of those worms. It killed him to do so, but he saw how R-01 and R-03 were. They were evil people, even before they were changed. Hell bent to destroying anything that comes their way. They were working with Black Ghost and volunteered themselves to be changed into cyborgs." 0014 explained. "What about R-02?" 007 asked. 0014 thought for a moment. "I honestly do not know. I met her only once. She was a quiet girl, in her mid to late 20's. Tall with black hair. I don't know if she is dead or alive. She certainly was not like R-01 and R-03 in personality, but possessed the same powers; accelerator, rejuvenation, and super strength."
"We will have to stay vigilant then, if she is alive, she could be sent for us at any time," 004 added. "Thank you for sharing what you know, 0014. Can you please follow me down to the lab, I wish to run some tests on you, please," Professor Gilmore stated. 0014 nodded and got up from the table, pulling the towel off her head. Her wavy brown hair fell to her shoulders. "Now, I already have all the data I collected from you when we picked you and 002 up from New York. I wish to compare your readings now," Professor Gilmore explained, as 0014 followed him to the lab.
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About an hour later, 0014 was almost nodding off back in the bed in Doctor Gilmore's lab. He was taking note of her vitals and tracking her systems through a series of wires connected to her temples, wrists, and ankles. 002 sat at the end of the bed. "Hmmm, interesting," Professor Gilmore muttered. 0014 and 002 looked over at him. "What is it, Doc?" 002 asked. "Well, 0014's self-heal ability seems to have been altered, it seems to be working faster now." 0014 raised an eyebrow at him. "Sooo, that is a good thing, right?" Doctor Gilmore scratched his chin. "Yes, on paper at least. But we won't know the extent without testing." 0014 nearly jumped off the bed, she pulled her knees up to her chest. "No, no, no way," she blurted out. "Calm down, 0014. I would never cause you harm by performing inhumane tests. What I mean is, when in battle again and if you have to use your ability, it may manifest differently, and hopefully more effectively. Perhaps, like the bond you share with 002, you created a bond with R-03 and his power may have had an effect on yours. But that is just a theory, we may know more in time. All your vitals are fine, so I would say to not worry." 0014 breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay. You scared me." Doctor Gilmore smiled warmly at her. "I am sorry about that. You are free to go. Why don't you and 002 head out to explore the town tonight? We are going to be leaving early tomorrow back to Japan, so it would be your last chance to see the place." 002 smiled, "Do you want to, 0014?" She fidgeted with the bed sheet. "Hmmm, I don't know, I do have patrol hours to catch up on," she answered, thoughtfully. "Nonsense, you are still technically on a rest period after what you went through, doctor's orders!" Doctor Gilmore said smiling. "Go on, you two, and enjoy yourselves." 0014 removed the sticky tabs of the wires from her skin. "Thank you so much again, Doctor Gilmore, for everything," he smiled at them warmly as they left the lab.
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Author's note: How does 002 put up with the abuse? I love when they pick on him in the show!
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think. KISSSSSSSSSSESSSSSSSS! Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx