HuniePop Space Adventures
Chapter 13: Outta Dimension Part 2
I stared up at the sky in disappointment. One minute, everything was going just fine, the next we were wanted fugitives and our lives were in the hands of a so-called "hero" and his team. However, I couldn't help but wonder if going back was the right thing or if it was worse than what we got. The rest of the Squad thought that he was trustworthy enough, so why did I think that-
"Having trouble relaxing?" a voice said to me. I looked to the side and saw Nomad standing next to me with his arms crossed.
"How can I relax? We've been stolen from our home, we're being hunted by APE and you're the only one protecting us from them. I don't even know who to trust at this point," I replied, sitting up.
"I understand why you don't trust me. All I'm asking is that you try."
"Try? That's a pretty strong word coming from you. I mean, why even risk your life for us?"
"Because it's who we are. Why exactly do we pilot those FRANXX? To protect the Plantations. And what are we doing when we protect the Plantations?"
"Protecting people. This isn't news to me."
"My point is that you know what your mission is when you pilot that FRANXX alongside your team. And it hasn't changed ever since you first piloted. But what's as important as protecting people is protecting your team. That's one of the most important jobs a leader has. As leaders, it's our job to be a shield not just to others, but also to our team. Even in the face of danger, even when teamed up with an unlikely ally, you need to make decisions that benefit them," Nomad said. I just sighed. He WAS right. As a leader, the safety of my team was the most important thing to me and seeing any of them hurt was something I couldn't live with. But… was killing really the best way to do that?
"Look, it's not that I don't trust you because you're a stranger who's just trying to protect us. The reason I don't trust you is because your tactics are brutal. You act like you have no remorse for killing people and you don't care what happens to them," I said.
"I do have remorse for my actions. But every day, whenever I think about my partner and what APE did to her, I can't hold back my emotions. I'm a slave to my anger and I can't fight against it."
"There is ALWAYS a better way! I'm sorry for what they did to your partner, but killing isn't always the answer! APE might be the cause of everyone's suffering but all the death isn't necessary!"
"Well, let me ask you something. If you were given the opportunity to be free, would you just run away? Or would you stand and fight? Think about it," Nomad said before he walked away in silence. As he left, Goro walked over to me.
"What were you two talking about?" Goro asked.
"He was… just giving me advice," I replied.
"Advice about what?"
"How we can earn our freedom."
Nikki's perspective
You know, Max was right about these Plantations. No matter where I ran, I didn't see any way out in the sides of it. It felt more like a prison than a safe haven. Right now, I was busy doing laps around the perimeter to make sure that nobody had found us, periodically running through the abandoned village to see if anything was amiss. During my fifth run through the town, I noticed one of the Squad mates, Futoshi, sitting down beside one of the houses with a sad look on his face. Wondering what was going on, I walked over and sat down beside him.
"Something on your mind?" I asked. Futoshi just looked up at me for a second before looking back at the ground.
"No. Everything's fine," he replied, sniffling a bit.
"Are you sure? You look a little depressed."
"It's just that… today's been the worst so far. We had a whole wedding for Mitsuru and Kokoro that was ruined and now we're being hunted down by APE. I just feel so depressed."
"You know, I saw you protect Kokoro and Mitsuru earlier. That was a very brave thing for you to do."
"Thanks, but… I feel like I didn't do enough to protect them. I should've done more."
"Against a whole squadron of armed soldiers? Giving them a chance to escape was the best thing you could do… but you're not exactly depressed about just that, are you? It's more than that," I said. I saw the tears started to run down Futoshi's face as he brought his knees up to his face.
"I was her partner before Mitsuru. We were partners for so long that I wanted it to be that way forever. But, when Mitsuru became ill, Kokoro offered to be his partner even though I promised her that I'd protect her. Mitsuru didn't care at first but before long, they fell in love and now… I just don't know anymore…" Futoshi said, crying. I sadly sighed at how hurt he felt. Hoping to cheer him up, I took off my helmet and gently sat down right next to him.
"Futoshi, I can understand how heartbreaking that must be. But, from what I've seen today, you bravely protecting them from those soldiers, you don't need to be her partner in order to protect her. If you made her a promise to protect her, you should honor that promise and continue doing it. Plus, she's your friend. She'll love you no matter what. And truth be told, she couldn't have asked for a better friend than you," I said, hugging him. Futoshi just silently hugged me back and smiled.
"Thank you," he replied.
Future Hiro's perspective
"We're approaching the Plantation now," Eva said as she positioned the dropship on the side of Plantation 13, which looked exactly the same as when we left it. I was in complete awe at how long ago it looked that way. It felt like me and Zero Two were finally returning home after being away for so long.
"It looks just as beautiful as I remember it," Zero Two said, looking out the window. As Odango began scanning the Plantation for any soldiers that could be combing the area, I stared out the window again at our old home. But, looking back, it didn't really look like a home anymore.
"Hiro, are you sure you want to go back?" Eva asked me.
"Just for a quick in-and-out. If we stay while APE's still looking for us, they might learn about the future of our world and it might change the future. Better to wait until this whole thing blows over before going back for good," I replied. Before long, the radar gave a small ding accompanied by a green light flashing.
"The area's clear! You are a go for teleportation!" Odango said, giving me a thumbs-up. I just chuckled and put my gear on.
"Remember… just a quick in-and-out," Eva said.
"Well, let's not waste any more time then," I said. But before we could be teleported out, Zero Two dropped her staff and a look of horror came over her face as we all looked at her in confusion.
"Darling… I don't feel so good," she said before she fell to the ground.
"Zero Two!" I yelled, running over to help her. But as I reached to grab her hand, it began to slowly disintegrate. As I began to inspect her hand, I noticed that the same thing was happening to me, only it was happening to my forearm.
"What's happening?!" I asked in a complete panic as the disintegration slowly moved up my arm.
"Something must be happening to the timeline which seems to result in the demise of both of you! Something must be wrong!" Rhea said as she used her magic to try and slow down the disintegration to no avail.
"I thought you said that if the timeline wasn't fixed then this would happen!" Eva said.
"This phenomenon serves as a warning when something falls too far outside of the original timeline. It's possible that the younger Zero Two and Hiro are making a decision that will permanently alter the future. Unless we can stop them, Hiro and Zero Two will vanish into nothing!"
"OK, and HOW do we stop it?!" Odango asked in a complete panic.
"Call Max and the others! Tell them what's happening!" Eva said as I held Zero Two with my other arm.
"I don't want you to go…" Zero Two said as the tears ran down her face and she continued to disintegrate.
"It's gonna be OK. I'm not going anywhere," I said.
Past Zero Two's perspective
"Zero Two, where are we going?!" Darling said as we ran through the abandoned village.
"We need to leave this place! Everyone's at risk as long as we're here!" I said.
"What are you talking about? Aren't we better off staying here?"
"Darling, we need to let Haichi know that we're OK so he can get us out of here!"
"And what if that doesn't work? What if APE finds us instead?" Darling asked.
"We have to try! It's our only shot at getting out of here! Now, come on, let's go!" I said. But before we could even get out of the town, Nomad's weapon specialist, Haywire, sped through and stopped right in front of us, blocking our path.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked. Darling started to answer but I stopped him from doing so and walked up to Haywire.
"We're leaving. And there's nothing you can do to stop us," I said. But as I started to walk around her, she swiftly picked me up and set me back beside Darling. I tried to make a run for it again, but she did the exact same thing, placing me right beside Darling again.
"Where exactly are you gonna go? There's nothing out there," Haywire said.
"That's not what we're trying to do! We're trying to save everyone and our only way is to tell Haichi!"
"APE monitors Haichi like everyone else! If you tell him our location, APE will know as well and we might not be able to protect you then! Staying here is the only safety we have until we can figure out what to do next!"
"You've done enough already! It's our turn to fight back against them for the cowards that they are!" I insisted.
"You're missing the point," a voice said. Darling, Haywire, and I turned to see Nomad standing on the roof before he jumped down and walked over to us.
"What exactly is the point that we're missing?" I asked.
"You're not just leaving… you're abandoning your friends here," Nomad replied.
"I call it giving them a chance."
"And what happens if you leave? What happens if APE finds you? They'll probe your minds and find out where the rest of your Squad is hiding and nothing will be able to protect them then. Not even us."
"Zero Two, he's right. We can't just leave the Squad here. We have to help them," Darling said.
"And we will! But we can't just sit here and do nothing! And if want to stop us, you're gonna have to shoot us," I said, walking away.
"You have no idea how important you are, do you?" Nomad said. Those words alone made me stop in my tracks and I looked back at him.
"What are you talking about?"
"You remember that I told I was watching you for some time? I learned of your reputation as the so-called 'Partner-Killer' and your previous partners. But when I saw Hiro survive his third ride with you, I knew."
"Knew what?" Darling asked.
"I knew that you two could turn the tide of the war. Every battle you won, every Klaxosaur you killed… it was because of the bond that you two shared. Like a sword that cut down your enemies as long as you both were holding the handle. But you weren't just a sword for your team… you were also a shield that kept them and any others from harm. If you leave now, if APE were to erase your memories, all hopes of us winning this war would be gone. You two are the strongest fighters that Earth has and all our hopes lie with you and your Squad. Look, I won't stop you if you think that this is the right thing to do, but I telling you that there are times when facing the problem head on isn't always a good idea," Nomad replied.
"Zero Two… he's right. This is something we can't just run from. Our Squad still needs us," Darling said, resting his hand on my shoulder. I don't know why, but I felt that I was repeating history again, risking our lives just so we could run away. Like I was making the same mistakes again. I began to cry a bit as Darling put his arms around my body to comfort me.
"I just… thought that it would be helpful if we did this so we wouldn't burden you," I said.
"Look, your heart's in the right place. But staying here is the best way to keep you and your team safe. That's why we're here. To protect you and your team," Haywire said. I couldn't help but hug her in response as I continued to cry a bit. As I continued to hug Haywire, I noticed that Nomad had two of his fingers on his helmet and was nodding in response to something.
"We should be heading back now before the team sends out a search team," he said. As he started to walk away, I ran over to him and gave him a hug.
"Thank you. Thank you for helping us," I said. Nomad's only response was to gently caress my head to comfort me.
Rhonda's perspective
Lemme tell ya, I don't remember the last time I did target practice. Not that I really needed to, but it never hurt to do it again. As I was in the middle of it, I saw Celeste walkin' up to me.
"Gunslinger," she said.
"What's up, Harbinger? What was all the ruckus about earlier?" I asked her.
"Zero Two and Hiro nearly left. But Nomad and Haywire were able to convince them to stay. Their future selves are all right… for now."
"Gotta give them credit… they're way more persuasive than I thought. So, have we figured out a way to set things back on track?" I asked as I shot one of the rocks off the wall.
"We're still trying to figure that out. I actually need to head back to the ship to make sure everything's in order. I just wanted to see how you were doing," Celeste said.
"I'm doin' OK here. Just don't leave here without me alright?" I asked. Celeste just chuckled and nodded before leaving me alone to continue training. But right as I was in the middle of reloading my gun, I heard the slight rustling of footsteps behind me. After I had finished reloading, I turned and shot the wall beside the intruder's head, only for the intruder to be Zorome and his partner, Miku. Thankfully, I didn't hit him, but I sure as hell scared him.
"What the hell's your problem?!" Miku yelled at me.
"I could ask you the same thing. You can't just sneak up on people like that," I said. Zorome adjusted his clothes and stood up lookin' all full of himself.
"Well, we were just passing through, seeing what we could see. And we heard all that noise and wondered what you were doin'," Zorome said.
"That so? 'Cause what I'm doing is target practice. Ever heard of it?"
"Not that I know of. But why are you practicing?" Miku asked.
"Just in case the fight comes here or we take the fight to them. Either way, it's always best to be prepared," I replied.
"Well, if it comes down to it, you can count on 'Zorome the Great' to lead you guys into the fray!" Zorome said, flexing his muscles. I could see Miku making a disgusted face at him.
"Then you're an idiot."
"What?"
"You think that your attitude alone will help you in the fight, bein' all cocky and half-assed? That's the easiest way to get yourself killed in a fight. I'd know because I used to be the same way when I was younger," I said.
"Wait… you?" Miku asked.
"Yeah. Made a LOT o' bad decisions that nearly got my team killed. When Nomad came to get me out, he taught me not just how to fight without a FRANXX, but also a lesson about humility. He taught me that the decisions I make always affect others," I said, drawing upset faces from the two of them. There actually was some truth to what I told them. Back when I was still trying to take down Dolarhyde, my first mission didn't go as intended. My first revolver got busted up, I got shot in the leg, and the Dolarhyde's contact shot himself before I could ask him any questions.
"So… what is it that you're trying to say?" Zorome asked me.
"Try to plan out how you're going to approach a challenge. Don't just rush in shooting wildly. Protect your team above all else. That's all there is to it."
"I feel like it's more complicated than that," Miku said.
"Well, it's up to you whether you want to make it complicated or not. In the long run, it comes down to the choices you make," I replied. I noticed that Zorome was staring down at my gun like he was beggin' me to teach him.
"Y'know… since you two are here… how 'bout I teach you both how to shoot a gun?"
"Wait, what?!" Zorome asked, surprised. I just chuckled, handed him the gun, and helped him take aim at one of the targets I had set up.
"It's simple. Just clear your mind for this moment, then set your sights on where you want to shoot. Deeply inhale and when you've got your target in sight, exhale and pull the trigger," I said. Zorome did exactly as I told him and managed to hit the target, albeit he nearly missed it.
"Whoa, Zorome! You hit it!" Miku cheered.
"I… actually did! Wow!" Zorome replied, smiling.
"Not bad for a first try. Now… again!" I said before Zorome took aim again.
Future Zero Two's perspective
"Where is it? WHERE IS IT?" I asked as I searched the bedroom. I was looking for a long-lost item… a flower crown that Miku made for me to symbolize our friendship. After about a few minutes of searching, I found it sitting underneath the bed. I smiled and hugged it tight while trying not to ruin it and headed back out to the main hall to get Darling so we could leave. But when I got there, I saw him sitting melancholy at the foot of the steps like his head was in the clouds.
"Is everything OK?" I asked, sitting down next to him.
"I'm fine," Darling replied.
"You're not having another disintegration spell, are you?"
"No, I'm just… thinking."
"About what?"
"About what's been going on around us. We ended up in a completely different world, we fought against all sorts of enemies, and now our friends are rewriting our own past. And this has all been happening within the last two weeks."
"Well, we got around pretty fast."
"But, above all else, I've been thinking about how much Max and Nikki have done for us. They've done a lot to help us and they didn't hesitate to help change our past," Darling said.
"Well, they hesitated a bit because if the future isn't set back in place, POOF! We disappear," I replied, leaning back a bit.
"What I'm saying is, it feels like they were more than our friends. It felt like they were… our parents."
"So what does that make me? Your sister? …You actually had sex with your sister?"
"No, not like that! My point is that they've been teaching us more than what APE ever taught us. How to fight. How to protect. How to forgive each other. I just feel like we owe it all to them for getting us to this point."
"Darling… what is it that you're trying to say?" I asked. Darling just stood up and stared out the window of the house in complete silence.
"We can't stay here," he finally said. That answer made my eyes widen in surprise.
"I thought that you wanted to come back here in the first place."
"I thought that I wanted to stay as well. But, they've done so much for us and we're gonna repay them by just leaving them and staying here?! We can't do that! Plus, if we stay here until after the war, what happens when we show up? The Squad will want to know where we've been and how we got back. And believe me, it would be extremely hard to explain!"
"They would understand. And I'm sure they would be happy to see us no matter what the circumstances are."
"But, more importantly, they wouldn't have gotten to this point without us. They're stronger when we're with them and I feel that us helping would be appreciated."
"Except that's not the only reason why you want to go back, is it?" I asked. Darling looked back at me like I accused him of something that he was hiding.
"What are you talking about?" he replied.
"You know what I'm talking about. You want your vengeance on HIM," I said. Darling looked down at the ground, looking guilty.
"The Overlord hurt you. Tried to kill you. I just… can't let something like that go unavenged."
"Do you think that Max is incapable of doing that? He promised you that he would take care of it, didn't he?"
"But that's not the only reason why I think we should go back and fight him. He actually knows that we're not from his universe, that we're from someplace completely different. And, if he wins, when he's done destroying what's left of that dimension, where do think he'll go next?"
"Darling, I don't know if he'll even be capable of doing that. And besides, Max and Nikki would probably be able to stop him, even if we didn't stay here."
"That's just the thing! I don't want to just live in fear and restraint like we used to! I want to be useful to someone instead of just being useless. And it'll be on us if they die because…" Darling started to protest. But I immediately drew him in for a kiss to shut him up. He was a bit tense at first, but his expression softened and he wrapped his arms around me even after I broke away from the kiss.
"You worry too much. I know that it feels like you're not doing enough, but you ARE. Whether it was trying to help them or trying to save me from my own madness, you always proved yourself, no matter what the obstacles were. And I love that about you. Plus, Max said that the decision is up to us whether we stay here or go back and fight alongside them."
"I know that. I just feel that helping them would be the right thing to do."
"Bottom line: Whatever decision you make, I'll follow you until the end of time. We're partners. We stick together, no matter what," I said, putting my hand on Darling's cheek. He just smiled and kissed me again until I heard Eva's voice over the comms.
"Zero Two, are you both finished? If you linger there any longer, you might attract some attention," she said.
"Yeah, we're all set. You can bring us back now," I replied before two columns of light surrounded me and Darling and we were teleported back up to the ship.
Max's perspective
Staring out across the landscape of the abandoned town felt like I was confined here for a crime that I didn't commit. I mean, that wasn't actually the case, but I still felt a bit uneasy about the whole situation. As I stood there, I looked down at my arm, which still had a bit of electricity surging around it. What the hell was going on with me? I knew that the Infernite energy would make me feel more enraged than normal, but what happened back at Plantation 13 had never happened to me before and I felt that this was only the start of something horrible. My thoughts were interrupted by Nikki, who sped up the side of the building that I was on and stopped right beside me.
"You feeling OK?" she asked me.
"I'm fine," I replied, looking back out at the horizon.
"This is all so weird, you know? A whole other world separate from ours and this is what became of it. It's just all so crazy, huh?"
"Yeah… I guess it is."
"Max, what's wrong? Are you sure that you're OK?"
"Nothing has been OK since this whole thing started. We're stuck in another dimension running from APE, we've been running from an intergalactic tyrant in our dimension, and to top it all off, I'm infected with an evil I can't control. I've turned into a complete monster."
"Max, you're not perfect. But you're no monster either. Look, what happened back there, that wasn't your fault."
"How was it NOT my fault? I shot a lightning shockwave from my fist and incinerated a whole battalion of soldiers. That doesn't just happen."
"Well, maybe it's like a defense. The energy probably reacted to you being in distress and… yeah, I don't know either. But, what I do know is that you're a good person and those kids couldn't have asked for better protection from anyone else other than you."
"That may be true, but those soldiers were just following orders from an alien species that has them fooled. And when you think about it, are we any better than them? We've gone from killing Infernites to evil alien soldiers and now we're killing humans. From my point of view, we aren't much better than they are," I said, sitting down on the ledge.
"Look… you're right and I feel just as strongly about this as you do. But we're doing this just to defend ourselves. We do what we need to survive, right?" Nikki said, sitting next to me. I just drew her in and held her tightly for a few seconds until Celeste called us over the comms.
"Max, Nikki, you there?" she said.
"Yeah, what's up?" I asked.
"You need to come back to the ship now."
"Why? What's wrong?" Nikki asked.
"Ichigo has asked to see you," Celeste replied. Both me and Nikki exchanged confused and worried looks before heading back to the ship. When we got there, we found Ichigo staring at some kind of structure on the holo-table alongside Hiro and Goro while the rest of the Squad was sitting in the chairs like they were waiting for something. As soon as I approached the holo-table, Ichigo turned her attention to me.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked.
"I did. I wanted to talk about what we should do next," Ichigo answered.
"Look, dude, can you try and talk her out of this? It's suicide!" Zorome yelled to me.
"What's he talking about?" I asked.
"I've been thinking about what you said to me earlier and you're right. It's about time that we stood up for our freedom and we took down APE once and for all. And I've devised a way that we can do that," Ichigo replied, walking back over to the holo-table.
"Are you insane?"
"Look, you said in a way that we'll never have our freedom as long as APE is running things."
"I know that, but I didn't mean for you to start a rebellion."
"Just let me explain. Right now, our FRANXX are being holed up in this structure called the Bird Nest. And we learned that the Sages will be showing up at this facility in about 20 minutes, which means they won't be able to track us. If we can get our FRANXX', we can just head to any other Plantation and gather more Parasites until we have enough to take on APE directly," Ichigo explained.
"And WE'VE told her that's never gonna work because, unlike us, all these other Parasites haven't lost anything from the hands of APE. So me and the others thought we'd just take our FRANXX and just run away to someplace where they won't find us and go from there!" Miku objected.
"And where exactly would we go, Miku? Our FRANXX would give away our position if we DID run away!"
"I admire your strategy and thinking, Ichigo, but Miku's right. The Parasites haven't lost what you all did. And besides, there's a severe flaw in your plan: the structure is heavily guarded, top to bottom. What do you expect to do, walk in and walk out?" I asked.
"That's what we have you for. You took out those soldiers at Plantation 13 like it was nothing so this shouldn't be too much harder," Ichigo said.
"But even we have our limitations. The soldiers at the lab could far exceed in number compared to Plantation 13. Even if we could get as far as the docking bay, there's no telling how many soldiers may come after that. It's out of the question."
"Listen, you told me that it's my sole duty as leader of this Squad to protect them. You've helped us get this far and you've inspired us to fight for what we believe in and to fight for our future. Now, I'm asking you to help us fight for that future. Please," Ichigo said. What she was asking made sense, but I knew that if both Hiro and Zero Two's past selves were killed, we would've done this all for nothing. But another thought came to my mind and I turned back around to face Ichigo, sighing.
"All right then. We'll do it your way. But if any of my team gets injured or caught, you don't come back for us. You just go as far as you can and never look back. Do you understand?" I asked. Ichigo and the rest of the Squad nodded in response and me and my team headed for the cockpit.
"Max, we can't do this. We'd be putting Hiro and Zero Two at risk, not to mention that we aren't prepared for whatever's in there," Celeste said as I started up the engines.
"There's no other way. Something has to be done to give this Earth a future," I said.
"But how? APE won't stop until Squad 13 is found and we aren't fully prepared to fight a war at this scale!" Nikki said.
"That's why the only way to truly bring down APE's corruption is to cut it at the roots," I replied. Both Amki and Rhonda gave me confused looks, but Nikki and Celeste knew exactly what I was talking about.
"Wait, you mean to destroy VIRM?"
"Not the entirety of VIRM. Just Papa and the Vice Chairman. If we take them out, we might just start the war between Earth and VIRM. That's the only way that we can set the future back in place."
"Max, that would be complete suicide. Hiro said that VIRM can absorb the souls of people. And if they absorb your soul while you are infected with the Infernite energy, you'd be giving them the power to kill millions," Celeste said.
"Do you have any better suggestions?"
"I mean, Max is kinda right. If we take down VIRM, it might set everything back to normal and we can get out of here," Amki said.
"Plus, we owe it to Hiro, Zero Two, and their Squad to try and do this," Rhonda added.
"Yeah, but we're talking about taking on an alien species that could potentially suck the life out of us! Even if we could get the Squad to the docking bay, where do we go from there?" Nikki asked.
"All I'm asking is that you trust me on this. Like I said before, we don't get any second chances if we do this. Taking down APE is the only option that we have left. It's either that or we die trying," I said. Celeste sat down at the controls and put her head in her hands for a moment before looking back at me. After a few seconds of silence, she took the wheel of the ship.
"For Hiro and Zero Two then," she said. Before too long, we headed for the Bird Nest. As we were on final approach, I saw that the structure itself was sitting in the middle of a lake all by its lonesome, with four bridges connecting it to the land surrounding the lake. Celeste did a lap around the structure until she started to hover near a wall.
"What are you doing? Can't we just phase into the docking bay?" Nikki asked.
"Normally, we could. But our phasing tech got damaged as we were leaving Plantation 13 and the facility holding the FRANXX units is underground. I'm positioning somewhere close to the service elevator that will take us down there, but even then we'd still have to run through an open hallway just to get to it," Celeste replied.
"And my best guess is that hallway's gonna be littered with bad guys," Rhonda said, loading her revolver.
"I just hope that this works or else, we came here for nothing," Amki said.
"It'll work," I said. After Celeste had set us up alongside the Nest, we all made our way inside silently, entering an empty hallway. wasn't a soldier in sight, but in the hall ahead, I could count at least 3 of them. After two of the soldiers left to scout the perimeter, I snuck up behind the third and choked him until he lost consciousness. After I made sure that he was actually unconscious, I signaled for the others to group up with me silently. Squad 13 quietly snuck over to me and knelt down as Celeste, Nikki, and the others readied their weapons.
"Listen, try and be as quiet as possible and stay behind us. If I give the signal, you run as fast as you can to the service elevator at the end of this hall, OK?" I said to the Squad.
"And what happens after that?" Goro asked.
"We go with Ichigo's plan. Assuming we can get that far. Now, Ichigo and Zero Two, I need you to call out enemies to us and which direction that they're coming from. The rest of you, stay in the middle of the group and keep your heads down. Let's move out," I said before we continued on. We slowly made our way down the hallway, sticking to the shadows to avoid being seen. If there was a soldier in the way, either me, Celeste, Nikki, or Amki silently killed him or rendered him unconscious. But as we were nearing the elevator, Zorome accidentally walked out in full sight and got spotted by one of the soldiers patrolling the area, but the soldier got gunned down by Rhonda before he could alert the other soldiers. However, the loud gunshot of Rhonda's revolver reverberated down the entire corridor and got the attention of every soldier all the way up until the elevator. Seeing no other way to get past, I took out my shotgun and starting shooting any soldiers that were unfortunate to come close. Nikki sped throughout the complex, stabbing any soldiers she ran past, and Celeste merged her katanas together to make a double-bladed katana which she threw at some of the soldiers ahead of her, slicing through their heads or torsos until it finally hit a wall. As Celeste got in the sights of two soldiers, Nikki created a small teleporter to help Celeste get in behind them so she could stab them. While we were taking down the majority of the soldiers, more of them got in behind us and started shooting at Amki and Rhonda, who were busy protecting Squad 13. As one soldier took aim at them, Rhonda threw her revolver straight at the soldier with the handle smacking him in the nose before it bounced back to her, she caught it and drew her semi-auto rifle and shot at the ceiling, both bullets ricocheting off of the metal and piercing through the soldier's eyes, killing him instantly. After we had finished clearing out the room, Amki pulled apart the elevator doors and Nikki began to hack the elevator panel while the rest of the team piled into the elevator, save for me.
"How much longer?" Hiro asked.
"Shouldn't be too challenging for me to decode this. Once I've finished, it'll take us down to hangar," Nikki replied. As she was nearly complete with hacking, Celeste's scanner began to slowly beep, which was a surefire indication that something was wrong.
"More soldiers… they're coming toward us," Celeste said.
"From WHERE?" Miku asked.
"Everywhere."
"Uh… I don't mean to be a bother or anything but, do you think you could HURRY UP PLEASE?!" Zorome panickily asked Nikki.
"Just give me a couple more seconds. I'll have this thing moving before long," she replied. But the sounds of the soldiers' footsteps coming from down the hallway made the Squad tremble in fear as Celeste and Rhonda tried to calm them down.
"Haywire, we need control of the elevator controls now!" Celeste said.
"Just a couple more seconds! I've almost got it!"
"We're gonna die… we're all gonna die…" Zorome said, hiding in the corner of the elevator as the footsteps got even closer. Quick-thinking, I pressed the emergency close on the elevator panel, which shut the doors immediately, leaving the Squad and the rest of the team inside and I stabbed the panel out with my arm blade.
"Wait… NOMAD! What are you doing?!" Ichigo said from behind the door.
"What I said that I was going to do. Protecting you," I replied.
"YOU CAN'T! This wasn't the plan!"
"This was always the plan, kid."
"I have control of the elevator now! Nomad, we can still get you onboard!" Nikki said.
"There's no time left. And they won't stop until they have at least one of us. Just go," I said.
"Nomad, we can't do this without you!" Hiro said.
"Yes, you can. It's time that I made peace with the choices I've made. Now GO," I replied. After a few seconds of silence, I heard the sound of the elevator softly whirring as I heard the voices of Squad 13 objecting to let me on until they descended beyond my hearing range. The reinforcements arrived and surrounded me from every single angle, their weapons all pointed directly at me. In front of me, a few soldiers parted to let Alpha and the rest of the 9's through as I looked around the room.
"Staying behind just to give them a chance? How noble of you. However, I must warn you that if you so much as try to fight back, these soldiers will not hesitate to fire on you. And I'd wager that your armor isn't that strong enough to survive all this firepower, is it?" Alpha asked. I didn't answer him. I just dropped my shotgun and kneeled down before removing my helmet in silence. Alpha just stared at me with contempt and knelt down in front of me.
"So… the beast shows his true face. I must admit, I expected to see the face of a true monster behind that mask. But all that I see in front of me is a broken man who has lost his humanity," Alpha said. Right as he was about to get up, he backhanded me across the face, drawing a bit of blood from my mouth, but he also winced from the pain. Just as he was about to hit me again, a male voice rang out.
"Enough!" it said. Alpha and the 9's, as well as myself, turned our attention to the right, where a few soldiers parted to let an old man through. The old man had grey hair and a mustache with a white coat for his attire, along with white gloves, and he was slightly limping, using a cane to support himself. But what was most intriguing about him as he stood in front of me was that half of his face, his entire jawbone, thumb finger, index finger, and middle finger of his right hand were all mechanical.
"Dr. FRANXX, I presume?" I asked as he looked me over.
Nikki's perspective
"Take us back up! TAKE US BACK UP NOW!" Ichigo yelled, pounding on the door.
"We can't. If we go back up, we'll share the same fate as him," Celeste replied.
"We can't just leave him! They'll kill him by the time that they're finished with him!" Kokoro objected. I did admit that what Max was doing seemed a bit extreme by terms of helping us escape. But, it felt like he was also doing this for another reason that I couldn't put my finger on.
"Look, you may be right about that, but he's doing this to give us a chance to escape and get reinforcements," Ikuno said.
"That's right! He didn't rescue us just because Kokoro and Mitsuru were in trouble. He rescued us so that we could be given a chance at a better and brighter future! To show us what we're really made of!" Futoshi said.
"Look, Ichigo, we'll round up as many Parasites as we can and we'll come back and…" Goro started to say.
"We're not leaving," Ichigo interrupted.
"What?"
"All this time… I thought that Nomad was a monster. But he's been more human than APE or any of us and he's been twice as strong. But, we're done running. It's time to show the Sages what we can do."
"So, what's the call, Commander?" Rhonda asked.
"We get in our FRANXX and we prove that we aren't afraid. We'll tear this place apart and save him and we'll make them sorry that they ever tried to tear us apart. This is no longer just about our freedom. It's about our family," Ichigo replied, with the rest of the Squad agreeing. Those words alone made something click in my brain. THAT was Max's plan. To inspire them to rise up. To push them to overcome their fears and fight back. When we had finally gotten to our destination, I sped through the hallway to look for any soldiers, which surprisingly there weren't any so far, but in the docking bay, they were all over the place. I sped back to the elevator to give Celeste the news.
"There's a whole battalion in the hangar. We'll need to clear that out before we can get you all out of here," I said.
"Get yourselves ready. After we've cleared the hangar, I'll try and track down Nomad's location so you know where they've taken him. And please, be careful," Celeste said. Ichigo nodded and the Squad headed into the locker room to get ready while the rest of us stormed through the hangar, taking out every soldier in sight.
Future Hiro's perspective
You know, looking back out at the landscape of my old world, it felt like I was now a stranger to it. I was staring out of the window in my bedroom and reminiscing about my past as Eva was busy setting up the QVE in the engine room. But even as I stared out the window, I felt like the other planets we had visited were more beautiful than ours. I mean, don't get me wrong, our world did have its own breathtaking spots, but the rest just looked like-
"Goo?" I heard a voice say. I looked down and saw Goo, the slime we saved from the Phantom Facility, staring up at me.
"What am I doing? Oh, nothing. Just looking out at the landscape," I replied. Well, I at least that's what I thought she asked. I honestly didn't know what she was saying as she could only say one word.
"Goo."
"Yeah, I know that it's not much to look at. But this is the world me and Zero Two grew up in."
"Goo?"
"Yeah, it got a bit lonely. But, the day I met Zero Two was the day that my life changed. She was the most beautiful thing that I ever saw. And her attitude was always so cheerful and positive and…"
"What are you two talking about?" a voice from behind asked. I turned around and saw Zero Two standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and a smug smile on her face. Goo immediately slithered out of the room when she saw her.
"Just, uh, stuff. Talking about our world and stuff like that," I said. Zero Two just walked over to my side and continued to smile.
"Were you flirting with her?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? I couldn't even understand what she was saying or asking."
"Well, I wouldn't think that would stop you from doing it. So, what were you and Odango doing earlier?
"Just… friendly business. It wasn't anything… you know."
"Darling, I'm just playing around with you. You don't have to take everything so-," Zero Two started to say. But before she could say anything more, both me and her felt a sharp pain in our foreheads again, this time even stronger than before. After the pain subsided, both of us looked in horror at each other and we immediately got up and ran straight for the cockpit, where Eva and Rhea were.
"WE NEED TO GO BACK!" I yelled as I set up the controls.
"Why? What's wrong?" Eva asked.
"It's VIRM! They have Max!"
"WHAT?!"
"We need to go back right now! We have to rescue him!" Zero Two said.
"How did he get captured?!" Rhea asked.
"He stayed behind so that he could protect the Squad. APE has him now! We need to go back and help before they kill him!" I said as I turned the engines on.
"Why on earth would he do that?!" Eva asked.
"Look, I don't know why he would, but if he's with APE right now, we need to get him out before they extract the Infernite energy or everyone on this Earth will die."
"Hiro, that will be impossible for them," Rhea said.
"What?" Zero Two asked.
"In its current state, the Infernite energy is completely unstable and because of that, the only safe way to extract it is with the Crucible. Without it, if they try to extract the energy, it'll tear them apart from the inside until their bodies disintegrate."
"Even if that's the case, we still can't leave him there. We need to go to the Bird Nest and break him out of there!" I said.
"So, is it a bad time to mention that I recently picked up seismic activity heading in that direction?" Odango asked, lifting a finger.
"Wait, what?" Eva asked.
"I recently picked up some seismic activity coming from a few miles outside of Plantation 13 and now it seems to be heading towards where Max and the others are right now," Odango said. Both Zero Two and I exchanged horrified looks when she said that.
"Oh my god, she knows," Zero Two said.
"Who knows?" Eva asked.
"The Klaxosaur Princess. She must've sent her klaxosaurs to find and destroy the source of the energy," I said.
"But, HOW?"
"The Infernite energy gives off a small electric surge that can sometimes be sensed by certain creatures. It's possible that the Princess is able to sense the energy signature and that she deems it a threat. But how she senses it is beyond my understanding," Rhea said.
"OK, we can't worry about that now. We need to save Max because if VIRM doesn't kill him, the klaxosaurs will!" I said.
"Hiro, we can't just storm into the Bird Nest and save Max that easily. Plus, if VIRM sees you, they might discover that you are from the future and you might change you and Zero Two's destiny forever," Eva objected.
"I don't care! Look, Max knew the risks if we did this. But he didn't hesitate to save our Squad and he sacrificed himself so that he could help them escape. But we can't leave him in the hands of our enemy! We have to do something!"
"Hiro, Max possibly has a plan to get out of this," Rhea said.
"And if he doesn't? We'd be leaving him to face his own death. We can't let that happen!" Zero Two said. Eva just sighed and sat down in the command chair, rubbing her eyes in distress.
"I mean, they're right, aren't they? If we were in that position, Max would do the same for us. And we're a team. Nobody gets left behind," Odango said.
"No… we're more than a team. We're family," I said. Eva sat back in the chair for a while and then looked back at me.
"Then strap yourselves in. Let's go get him," she said.
Max's perspective, Bird Nest
The soft whirring of the elevator was the only sound that was breaking the silence as it made its way up. Both of my wrists were shackled with some kind of energy cuffs and Alpha had my shotgun strapped to his back. To make matters worse, I could feel Alpha staring at me with disapproving eyes. Standing next to me, Dr. FRANXX was closely examining my helmet, running his hand over it as if he was admiring the curvature of it.
"This metal… how did you even acquire something like this?" he asked me. I didn't answer him. I just kept my mouth shut and looked away from him.
"Well, how about your weapons? I've never seen anything like them before," he asked. Again, I didn't answer him or even look him in the eye. The doctor just looked at me with concern and tried to get my attention.
"Why do you not speak? You have no reason to be afraid of me. I just wish to know more about you."
"Who needs to know more about him? He's a heartless monster that kills because he thinks it's fun. He thinks that protecting a Squad as if they were his own will make him a better person, but it won't. He has no discipline, no skill. I bet the Squad would've abandoned him the first chance that they got," Alpha said behind me. I swear, I wanted to seriously deck him in the face SO MUCH. But his words did have some truth to them. I felt that killing was the only option for the soldiers that I massacred back at the Plantation and there was the constant burning anger that was only made worse by the energy that was pulsing through my veins. Dr. FRANXX could tell that I was hurt by Alpha's words.
"I believe… I understand what's bothering you. You were trying to protect them from us, weren't you? You think that we do not care for their happiness, don't you? You wanted to give them freedom when the Sages tried to take it away from them. To tell you the truth, they never consulted me about that decision. I felt angry that they would do such a thing. But I do care about the children, I really do. And I can see it your eyes, you hate such injustice like that, don't you?" Dr. FRANXX asked. I just looked at him with a sorrowful look before turning away again. Before long, we left the elevator and walked down a long hallway until we entered a slightly empty room where four robed figures were standing with a large handful of soldiers lined up against the wall. When we entered, one of the soldiers accompanying us forced me to my knees as Dr. FRANXX walked in front of me to meet the robed ones. Sure enough, when one turned around, he was wearing a golden mask with red eyes. I was certain that he had to be Papa, the leader of both VIRM and APE. As the doctor walked up to him, Papa took my helmet from him and closely examined it, like he was studying it more thoroughly than Dr. FRANXX did.
"Where is Squad 13? The rest of his team?" he finally asked.
"I'm not certain. But I assume that they couldn't have gotten far," Dr. FRANXX replied. Papa handed my helmet back to him and then walked up to me and closely examined my face.
"I thought you said that he had eyes of red."
"I guess the visor was tinted differently from his eyes. All he is underneath is a broken man," Alpha replied.
"And yet, he made you and the entire battalion we sent with you look like inexperienced children," the Vice Chairman said.
"Well then, all that aside, tell me 'Hero': Where are your friends now?" Papa asked me. I didn't answer or acknowledge him and kept staring down at the floor.
"Very well. How about an easier question: What is the source of your power?" he asked. I just looked up at him like he was crazy until Dr. FRANXX pulled up a hologram recording of me using an electrical shockwave to incinerate the soldiers at Plantation 13. I just looked back at the floor, refusing to answer the question.
"Why does he not speak?" Marmoset asked.
"I do not know. He hasn't spoken a word after he was captured," Dr. FRANXX replied.
"Then perhaps we can persuade him," Papa said, signaling for the guards to take me over to one side of the room, where a couple of chains slowly emerged from the floor. The guards attached the chains to my wrists as Papa walked over to the table that he and the rest of the Sages were surrounding earlier and picked up a metal apparatus of some kind.
"W-what are you doing?" Dr. FRANXX asked as Papa made his way over to me.
"This device was meant to supply a small shock to the patient's brain if they refuse to give information, correct?" Papa asked.
"Well, yes, but that was the prototype. I'm not sure if the voltage will be correct if we do attach that to him."
"He'll talk one way or another. And the truth of his power WILL be revealed."
"…Do you think that you're fooling anyone here?" I finally said. Papa, Dr. FRANXX, the Sages and the 9's were taken aback by me suddenly talking, but Papa then knelt down to face me.
"Why exactly would we be fooling anyone?" he asked me.
"I know what you are under that mask. Underneath it is the face of a monster. You act like you actually care about this planet, but you don't. You deny your Parasites any happiness or solitude. They fight and die for you and you don't give them any recognition. But I'm here to give them what you won't: their freedom. You can torture me all you want, but I will NEVER tell you where Squad 13 is. And my power is MY secret. So, go ahead, torture me if you want, but you won't get anything from me," I said triumphantly. Everything in the room went dead silent for a few seconds before Papa chuckled lightly.
"Such bold words. I'm impressed with your courage. But the truth that I embrace is that we will win this war one way or the other and we will not let anything impede us. And your power will help us do just that," he scoffed, placing the apparatus on my head. Before I could say anything more, a sudden shock ran through my body and everything went black.
Future Hiro's perspective
"We're only a few miles away from the Nest now. Get the others ready," Eva said to me. I immediately headed to the hangar of the dropship where Zero Two and the rest of the team were suiting up to get ready to infiltrate the Nest.
"Ready?" I asked.
"Ready as I'll ever be. If the 9's are in there, I'll be sure to give them tens years' worth of payback," Zero Two said, holstering her electrostaff. Before I could ask any of the others if they were ready, Celeste called me on the comms.
"Hiro, is the QVE ready? I can't seem to reach Eva," she said.
"It's ready. Eva's busy driving right now," I replied.
"Driving? Where are you right now?"
"Just a few miles outside of the Bird Nest. We're making our final approach now."
"WHAT?! Hiro, why are you coming to the Bird Nest?"
"We have a chance to save Max. And don't try to talk me out of it because we've got a whole swarm of klaxosaurs moving toward the Bird Nest coming for him."
"Wh- That's impossible! How did the klaxosaurs know that we were here?"
"It's because of the same reason VIRM has him: the Infernite energy. But the klaxosaurs are afraid of him. Unless we can get him out, they'll kill him. What about our Squad?" I asked. The ship suddenly lurched a bit and I saw that we were hovering above the Bird Nest.
"They're piloting their FRANXX's now. Ichigo made the decision to have the Squad try and free him from the Sages," Celeste said.
"That's smart. If the klaxosaurs do attack, the Squad can help defend the Nest as we get Max out."
"Hiro, you do realize that if VIRM sees you, they'll know that you're from the future and if that happens, we might not be able to help."
"We were trained for situations like this. It's time that we show them what were made of," I said before I cut the feed and grouped up with the rest of the team. We then teleported out of the dropship into the empty hallway of the Nest. Or, at the very least, it was empty for a few seconds after we teleported in, because a couple of soldiers rounded the corner just as we were recovering from the sudden change in scenery and took aim at us. But Zero Two recovered quick enough to leap into action and dispatch the soldiers by electrocuting them with her staff. A third soldier heard all the commotion and fired a couple of shots at Zero Two, which she dodged with ease before I grappled him with one of my gauntlets and hit him with the other.
"Well, we're in luck. The floor that Max is being held on is the one we're on right now. We just need to head down this hall and hang a left at the first intersection and we should find them," Eva said, checking her proximity detector.
"Then let's get going. If we don't get him out, those klaxosaurs will tear this place apart," I said. We immediately ran down the hallway just as a battalion of soldiers came from the hallway behind us, firing at us. Zero Two and I worked hand-in-hand, utilizing all we learned to take out some of the soldiers. Eva used her concussion gauntlets to blow some of the soldiers away from us and Odango fired a bunch of suppression rockets which easily incapacitated them. As we fought on, Rhea conjured up an electric shield which not only protected us from the gunfire, but also allowed Eila to draw power from and electrocute a few more of the soldiers. The last two were taken out by Goo, who attached herself to one soldier's head and then grabbed another before knocking their heads together. After we had taken the soldiers out, we ran toward where Max was being held, keeping our weapons ready just in case. But as we were about to round the corner, two familiar faces stepped out, making us stop in our tracks. The faces were of Haichi and Nana, our caretakers. Haichi was the defense commander of the Operational Headquarters based in Plantation 13 and although he had a blunt and emotionless demeanor, he still cared about us. Nana, on the other hand, was caring and always committed herself to our safety. Seeing them again… I couldn't find the words to greet them. But Zero Two obviously did.
"Haichi. Nana. Great to see you again, but we've got important business to get to," she said, ushering me and the others along. But Haichi and Nana were quick to follow us.
"What are you two doing here? Do you have any idea what's been going on around here?" Haichi asked as we made our way down the hallway.
"The whole of APE has been looking for you and your Squad! Do you care to explain what's going on? Or who these people are?" Nana asked, pointing at the rest of our team. But we just ignored her and continued on until we got to a large door that was sealed tight.
"He's behind this door?" I asked.
"He is. Now we just need a way to get through," Eva replied. Eila went over to the door's control panel and tried to overload it, but it instead reacted violently and launched her back. Rhea was able to catch her with her magic though.
"016, 002, you two need to explain to me what's going so…" Haichi started to say.
"Look, we don't have time to explain right now! If we don't get in there, a lot of people are going to die!" I said, stunning Haichi a bit. Zero Two grabbed a bomb unit out of Odango's chest and placed it on the door, setting the timer for 15 seconds.
"What is that?!" Nana asked.
"It's a bomb. Which means you need to step back now," Zero Two said, gently pushing Nana away from the door. When all of us had gotten far enough away, Zero Two got into a battle ready stance, as did the rest of us, with Rhea pulling a hood over her head and me pulling out my shotgun. Nana cringed at put her fingers in her ears, fearing what would come next.
"Remember, be careful in there," I said to Zero Two.
"We've trained for stuff like this, Darling. Of course, I'll be careful," she replied. Right as the bomb blew open the door and smoke filled the room inside, Zero Two ran in and attacked any soldier that she could see, bludgeoning them with her staff. I launched a few sticky bombs at a couple of soldiers, which blew apart one, but the other continued to fire at us until Rhea put him down with a fireball. Eila shot some lightning out and electrocuted a bunch more as Eva and Odango teamed up to take out five more soldiers and Goo launched one up only for her to grab him and slam him back down into the ground. After Zero Two had defeated the last soldier that she could, the smoke began to clear and she was now in full view of the 9's and the Sages, followed by me. The 9's and Dr. FRANXX were rather surprised to see us, but Papa didn't seem all that fazed. To the right of him, Max was chained to the ground, wearing an apparatus of some kind that seemed to be electrocuting him.
"016. 002. This is quite a surprise. Although, not an unwelcome one," Papa said. Haichi ran up to my side caught sight of Max being electrocuted.
"Wait, what the hell are you doing up here exactly?! What are you doing to that man?!" Haichi demanded to know.
"It's classified information, I'm afraid."
"So, you're experimenting on people now?!" Nana yelled.
"It doesn't matter. We're taking him out of here and you can't stop us," Zero Two said, pointing her pistols at the Sages.
"And what exactly do you plan to do with him? Inside this man lies a power unlike anything we've ever seen. This power… if we could harness it, it would change the very course of the war," the Vice Chairman said.
"Then you are fools. You mess with a power that you don't fully understand. That power is too dangerous for anyone to wield," Rhea said.
"That's why we need to get him out of here as quickly as possible," I said.
"And tell me, 016, what exactly is this man worth to you? Is it the feeling of sentiment? Or does it run deeper than tha-" Papa started to ask before the entire room began to rumble violently, as if something hit it. Nana, Haichi, and the rest of us struggled to keep our footing as Papa pulled up a screen showing the outside. Standing in the front was Goro and Ichigo's FRANXX, Delphinium, with the rest of our Squad standing behind her.
"Sages! You tried to tear our family apart and you think that we will simply back down because you say so?! Well, I have a message for you! If you don't give Nomad back to us right now, we'll tear this place apart with you in it!" Ichigo said through Delphinium before she punched the side again, cutting the feed on the screen. But not before Nana, Haichi, and everyone else had gotten a full view of our past selves piloting Strelizia.
"Wait a minute… how is Strelizia out there when…" Nana started to say before her and Haichi's eyes widened as they came to the answer and they turned back to us.
"Your eyes do not deceive you. The two Parasites you see in front of you… are from the future," Papa said.
"You knew…" Zero Two said.
"No one other than us and the 9's knew about the arrest of 556 and 326 that would've happened today. It only made sense that you would send someone to try and rescue them. I will admit that we did not expect you to get this far, but in your attempt to save your Squad, you simply handed us a way to wipe out the klaxosaurs for good. But, I'm afraid that you are no longer needed here at this time. Remove them," the Vice Chairman replied, pointing at us. A bunch of soldiers obeyed and ran toward us with their weapons out, but Rhea immediately conjured up a windstorm that lifted them up into the air, where Eila threw lightning balls at them to knock them out.
"Go get Max! We'll handle them!" Rhea yelled to us as she used her magic to create a wall of ice that protected the others from the enemy fire. We ran straight over to Max to try and free him, but we were cut off by Alpha and the rest of the 9's when we were about halfway there.
"Colluding against Papa and the Sages? I didn't think you capable of such dishonor, Iota," Alpha said.
"It's you who's being dishonorable, Alpha. You're working with the enemy and you don't even know it yet," I said.
"And why should listen to the likes of an ingrate like you?" Alpha replied, a smug grin on his face. I stepped forward to try and give him a piece of my mind, but Zero Two put my arm in front of me and stopped me.
"This fight is mine, Darling. I'll handle this," she said. I nodded and stepped back a bit, letting her step forward and challenge the 9's directly, making Alpha smirk.
"You know how this fight will end, Iota. Why don't you let your Partner have a turn with us?"
"Because you don't actually know how the fight will end this time. Now, step aside unless you wanna get really hurt."
"Honestly, Iota, Papa only wants what's best for us. And even if you think what you're doing is right, why would you risk your life for a monster like him?" Alpha said, pointing at Max.
"You forget, Alpha, I was also a monster too. And he's been more of a father than Papa ever was," Zero Two said before she got into a battle ready stance and taunted the 9's to try and fight her.
"Well, if you insist. Take her," Alpha commanded the other 9's, who immediately ran in to try and restrain her. The 9 in the front, Beta, took a swing at Zero Two to try and knock her down, but Zero Two leaned back and dodged his fist at the last second so that his arm flew right over her before she struck him in the chin with her electrostaff, which knocked him down. Zero Two didn't have any time to relax because the rest of the 9's were right behind Beta, and each of them tried in vain to hit Zero Two or and least pin her down. But Zero Two's superior fighting skills were able to keep each of the 9's from even touching her. She grabbed Epsilon with her legs and easily toppled him, tripped up Gamma with her staff, used a pole vault to take down both Eta and Zeta, and put Theta in a choke hold until she lost consciousness as she fought Delta and knocked her out with a kick to her face. As all of the 9's laid on the ground around her unconscious, Zero Two threw Alpha a smug look.
"Well? What do you think of THAT?" Zero Two said.
"I'm not impressed. Besides, they were just simply a warm-up. Let's see how you fare against me," Alpha said before Zero Two lunged at him. She tried her best to try and hit him, but Alpha matched her step for step. But the same was true for Alpha as he had trouble even landing a hit on Zero Two. But the second that he messed up, Zero Two hit him in the face with her staff and did so again multiple times before ending it with one final strike, drawing some blood from his mouth. Alpha enragedly attacked her again, but she did her best to try and hold him back.
"Darling, be a dear and go get Max out!" Zero Two said to me. I nodded and ran over to where Max was and tried to get him free, but the chains were too strong for me to break, even with my gauntlets.
"Max, c'mon. I need your help here. I can't do this alone!" I said, trying to get Max to cooperate despite his condition. But as I tried to get the chains to break again, I noticed that the blood vessels in his neck were starting to turn black and they glowed red periodically. But I didn't have time to see what that was all about because a laser blast from a soldier's rifle knocked me away from him. As he took aim at me again, another rumbling tore through the building and made him lose his footing and misfire. I luckily moved one of the chains that was holding Max into the path of the shot and it easily broke the chain, but it also knocked me back again. Quick-thinking, I grabbed my shotgun and shot a sticky bomb at the soldier who shot at me and the bomb blew him to pieces. Sensing that he was a bit free, Max grabbed the other chain and pulled on it until it broke free and he collapsed to the ground, the apparatus falling off of his head. Zero Two managed to knock out Alpha and give me some assistance, taking out her dual pistols and pointing them at the Sages.
"Well… this has been quite entertaining. I didn't expect such a display of power like that from either of you," Papa said.
"How 'bout you just cut the crap and…" Zero Two started to say before a loud explosion rang out from the outside. A screen pulled up and showed the landscape past our Squad, where the ground was breaking open to reveal a bunch of klaxosaurs crawling out. Our Squad turned back and noticed them before they engaged them to keep them from reaching the Bird Nest. The rest of the Sages aside from Papa and the Vice Chairman looked at the screen in fear.
"Th-this isn't right… why are there so many of them at once?" Marmoset asked.
"They aren't coming here because of us! They're coming here because of him!" I said, pointing at Max, who was still dazed and struggling to brush off his pain.
"What do you mean?" Baboon asked.
"It's what we've been trying to tell you this whole time! Those klaxosaurs are afraid because of the threat he poses. If we don't get him out of here, none of us will leave this place alive!" Zero Two said, drawing concern from Marmoset, Baboon, Gorilla, and Dr. FRANXX.
"Perhaps… we should listen to them…" Dr. FRANXX said to Papa. But Papa just scoffed at him like he didn't care about his opinion.
"You mean surrender our only means of finally destroying that accursed race of monsters? On the brink of our victory?" Papa asked as he stood in front of Max alongside the Vice Chairman.
"What victory can we even achieve with THAT many klaxosaurs out there right now?!" Gorilla asked.
"So you would rather trust inexperienced children rather than us?" the Vice Chairman asked.
"Oh, come off of it, you vermin! You wouldn't know defeat even if it hits you in the face! Just admit that you can't win this time!" Zero Two yelled at Papa. But he just stared at us, almost like he was smiling sadistically underneath that mask of his.
"You are from the future, so I assume that you already know of our secret as much as we know yours. It is our duty to assure victory against our enemies, whether they be human or klaxosaur. All who wish to live must surrender to our will or face the consequences of their actions. And in your pathetic attempt to change the past of this Earth, you simply handed to us the means to finally be rid of our true enemy and erase any trace of rebellion. In truth, you shouldn't have returned at all," Papa said.
"Do you think we came back here just to kill you? No, we came back to protect our loved ones. From the likes of YOU. And you've unleashed an evil that you'll never be able to control. It'll be the end of you," I said. As I was talking, I saw that Max was being surrounded by the same red electricity that was in his veins and his hair was turning white. And neither Papa nor the Vice Chairman had no idea.
"The truth that we acknowledge, 016, is that your pathetic race is meant to give us servitude. EVERY race deserves to give us servitude. Because we excel in means of our evolution. And what these years of evolution has shown that as a superior species, we will always prevai-," the Vice Chairman started to say. But he was interrupted mid-sentence by Max, who shoved his fist through his chest. The Vice Chairman looked down in complete shock and horror before looking back up as Max shoved his other fist through the Vice Chairman's chest and violently ripped him apart, making Papa move away in fear and awe. Max slowly stood up and stared intently at us with red eyes before looking back in anger at Papa.
"Restrain him!" Papa commanded a small handful of soldiers standing next to him. One of the soldiers immediately fired at Max, the shot hitting him smack in the face, but all it did was make him angry and he swiftly charged toward the soldier and tore him in half. The other soldiers tried in vain to stop him, but Max grabbed one and impaled him through the head with his arm blade and then knocked the other one down and crushed his head with his foot. Me, Zero Two, and the rest of the team did our best to take out any other soldiers that were trying to take him down. The rest of the Sages began to try and run from Max's rampage, but Gorilla tripped and fell on his face in his fear and before he could react, Max reached down and tore through his back, ripping out his spine and leaving him a bloody mess. Max continued to tear his way through every soldier that got in his way until he caught up with Marmoset and held her by her throat. As he tightened his grip on her, her mask came undone, revealing the face of a frightened, middle-aged woman underneath, tears running down her face. I tried to call out to him to try and stop him, but one of the soldiers fighting us punched me in the chin and prevented me from doing so.
"Please… have mercy!" Marmoset pleaded, choking a bit. Max just stared at her in silence before tossing her toward the wall. As Baboon tried to help her, Max continued to zero in on his main target: Papa. Both Papa and Dr. FRANXX had a group of soldiers standing in front of them to try and protect them, but Max began slaughtering them one by one with his arm blade or his bare fists. However, as the rest of us fought on, I couldn't help but feel like this was what Papa really wanted to have happen. But, as Max was just finished with killing the last soldier, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked toward both Marmoset and Baboon. I didn't know exactly what it was that made him stop but the answer came pretty quick as all of us stopped fighting when we heard this deep, guttural growling coming from outside and the side of the Nest was torn open, both Marmoset and Baboon falling to their deaths. And what we saw defied all logic. The thing tearing through the nest was a klaxosaur, definitely large enough to be Super Lehmann-class, but unlike most of the others that me and Zero Two fought, this one had three heads which all looked dragon-esque as compared to any normal klaxosaur and it looked as if it had layer upon layer of armor covering its entire body and it kept itself level to the floor we were on with its large, razor-sharp claws. The klaxosaur bellowed a loud roar before one of its heads attacked Nana, only for Max to stop the head in its tracks and punch it with an electric blast of Infernite energy. As the klaxosaur reeled back from the pain, Max jumped on top of its head and tore off one of its armor pieces, stabbing the piece into the side of the monster's neck. The enraged klaxosaur spewed blue fire from one of its heads to try and injure him, but the flames barely even scratched him and Rhea raised a wall of ice to shield us from the heat. Zero Two and I took advantage of the creature's position and we both moved underneath its necks to try and locate a weak point.
"Darling, look!" Zero Two yelled, pointing at the klaxosaur's chest, which was pulsating and glowing a golden color. I figured that it had to be housing its weak spot, its core. I immediately took aim at the klaxosaur's chest and fired a trio of sticky bombs and while the explosions did break some of the armor away, it wasn't enough to expose the core. To make matters worse, one of the heads became aware of our presence and tried to kill us. We were luckily saved by Eila and Rhea, who used lightning to distract the monster's head. Zero Two attached a bunch of explosives to the klaxosaur's chest and detonated them to form a crooked line running all the way to the bottom. Max repeatedly bashed one of the klaxosaur heads until he was certain that it could no longer fight and joined us, grabbing the monster's chest and tearing it open where Zero Two had blown it up, exposing the klaxosaur's core. I expected him to stab the core with his arm blade, but his arms became engulfed in electricity and he grabbed the core with both of his hands and started to electrocute it. The klaxosaur roared in pain as the electricity surrounded its entire body and the blue highlights of its entire body began to turn red. Rhea immediately grabbed both of us with her magic and brought us back to the rest of the group, as well as the 9's, before conjuring up a shield just as the klaxosaur's core seemingly exploded, blasting Max backwards into Rhea's shield. It seemed like the battle was over as the klaxosaur finally collapsed. But, just as Rhea lowered the shield and Max got back up, the klaxosaur slowly got back up, its chest now fully healed and its body now glowing with red highlights. I expected that the klaxosaur would start attacking again, probably even more enraged than before. But, as Max walked up to the beast, it just lowered its heads to face him, the two exchanging menacing glares at each other until Max looked out at our Squad fighting the other smaller klaxosaurs. The hydra-klaxosaur seemed to understand what Max was thinking and slowly left the Nest before fighting the other klaxosaurs alongside our Squad. Me and the others were in complete awe at what we just saw and Max seemed to finally be exhausted from how intense the battle was, as he was now panting heavily. But just as he was calming down, a sudden beam of light hit him straight in the side of his chest. The source of the beam was coming from Papa, who had his hand outstretched to try and steal some of the power that Max had. As Papa continued to try and steal it, a red orb made its way from Max's body to Papa's hand, and when it finally reached him, Papa's body became engulfed in the same energy that Max had and he let Max go. The energy bristled all over Papa's hands as he outstretched his arms, the lightning arcing between his fingers.
"Yessss. This power… is EVERYTHING I had ever hoped for! With this… there will be no more rebellion. No more resistance. All will submit to the power of VIRM! And there will be nothing that can…" Papa started to say triumphantly. But when he took another look at his hands, he, as well as me and the others, saw it slowly beginning to turn to stone and the electricity began to shock his entire body as he yelled in pain. But that was the least of his problems as Max recovered and grabbed him by the neck and forced him up against the wall. Papa tried desperately to fight back, but Max angrily reacted and tore his arm off before tightening his grip on him and stared at him menacingly.
"You… cannot do this. I've shielded these people from our enemy… kept them safe and cared for. What will they do when I'm gone from this world? How will they move on without me?" Papa asked. Max just drew his arm blade in response and prepared to strike.
"You were nothing but a usurper. A false god," Max replied in a demonic voice before he stabbed Papa through his mask and then violently ripped his head off, his body turning to dust as soon as he dropped his body to the ground. Max just stood there in triumph as he turned his attention to Papa's head, which was still attached to his arm blade, and pushed it off, the mask shattering when it hit the ground. But, after that, Max turned his attention to Dr. FRANXX, who was cowering in the corner, and started to slowly stalk toward him.
"Max, that's enough! No more!" I yelled, trying to get him to snap out of his anger. But Max just ignored me and tore the table out of the ground so he could get to Dr. FRANXX, but he was immediately stopped by Eila, Goo, Eva, and Odango, who tried their best to hold him back. But Max's body suddenly tensed up and became covered in electricity, zapping Eila and Goo back, and he shoved Eva out of the way and tore one of Odango's legs off of her. It seemed like there was no possible way to get him to stop what he was doing. But just as Max was about ready to kill Dr. FRANXX, Zero Two dropped her staff and ran towards him, looking determined to stop him. But when I started to yell for her to stop, she wrapped her arms tightly around his chest as she hugged him and the entire room seemed to fall silent. Max at first seemed extremely tense and looked back at Zero Two, but she gently put one of her hands over his eyes to try and calm him down, not loosening her grip on him.
"Don't let it control you… like how it once controlled me," she said quietly as she removed her hand from his eyes. Her plan seemed to work because Max then took a look around at the entire room at everything: the bloodied corpses of the soldiers we had killed, at the shattered mask of Papa, and at his friends whom he had inadvertently hurt. And then he turned back to Dr. FRANXX and looked at his arm blade, staring at his own reflection in disgust before he gently pushed Zero Two aside and, after a few more seconds of silence, he finally ended the whole thing by slashing the metal part of the doctor's face, causing him to faint in fear. Max finally crumpled to his knees and started to return to his normal state as I checked Dr. FRANXX's pulse, which was thankfully there, but my attention was soon diverted to outside, where the hydra-klaxosaur had finally destroyed the last small klaxosaur before it finally crumpled to the ground and slowly died. I then turned back to Max, who was beginning to cry at his own inhumanity, only for Zero Two to kneel down in front of him and tenderly hug him. I felt inclined to do the same and joined her, gently trying to calm him down. Touched by this heartfelt act, Max put his arms around us and squeezed us tightly until we heard Nikki, Celeste, and the other team enter the room. We didn't really get a chance to say anything because the building began to shake once again, possibly due to Squad 13 trying to still rescue Max.
"We need to leave. NOW," Celeste said, getting us to our feet and leading us out the door. Haichi took advantage of the situation and grabbed a comm system to reach the Squad outside.
"Squad 13! Stand down! Nomad is OK! He's safe!" he said as we left.
Zero Two's perspective, 15 minutes later
"You know what needs to be done now, correct?" Celeste asked. All of us were sitting in a dimly lit room with Haichi and Nana sitting at one end and the rest of us sitting at the other end. To be honest, the ambiance in here was a bit scary.
"I'm… not entirely sure that I understand," Haichi replied. Celeste just nodded and began to explain again.
"A few hours ago, Plantation 13 was raided by a team that was rebellious to the Sages and APE and they had hoped to liberate Squad 13 from their 'home'. But, as they were trying to escape, one of them was captured and brought here for interrogation, but the Nest was attacked by a horde of klaxosaurs which were fought off by Squad 13's heroic actions. But, in the chaos, Gorilla, Baboon, and Marmoset were killed, the 9's were incapacitated, and Dr. FRANXX was injured, losing some of his memories. You learned of the truth about Papa and the Vice Chairman's true intentions and you learned about their true identities before they too were killed by the klaxosaurs," she said.
"And what exactly do we tell the people about APE? About these… invaders?" Nana asked.
"That they're still out there. But you won't stop until they're gone and Earth is safe," Nikki replied. Haichi just sighed and gently rubbed his forehead in distress.
"And what happens after that?" he asked.
"That's for you to decide. I trust that you'll make the right decision, Haichi," Celeste said before she left alongside everyone else except for me and Darling.
"This whole thing… was crazy," Nana said, sitting down in the chair beside Haichi.
"I know. We didn't really mean for things to go like this. But, it all worked out in the end… sort of," I said.
"So… you come from the future?" Haichi asked.
"We do. We don't know how we ended up coming back here so suddenly like this but, we knew that we couldn't just sit by and watch as our family was torn apart again," Darling replied.
"What you did… it was foolish. But it was also very brave of you. Not just risking your lives for your Squad but also risking your lives for your friend."
"Well, that's what we've always done from the start, isn't it? Protect our loved ones?"
"So… where do you go from here?" Nana asked as Darling and I stood up.
"I can't say exactly what will happen next for us. But I do know that whatever the future holds for us, we can't just simply watch anymore. We have to try and help wherever and whenever we can," Darling replied before he handed a small flash drive to Haichi, who just gave him a confused look.
"What's this for?" he asked.
"For the Squad. For after the war. You'll know when to give it to them."
"So... this is goodbye?" Nana asked.
"Only goodbye for now. We'll come back when our mission is complete," I said, giving Nana a hug.
"Then until we meet again. Be safe you two," Haichi said before I took Darling's hand and pressed a button on my wrist which beamed us back up to the Centurion, where the rest of the team was waiting.
"Well, it seems that our mission was a success. The future has been set back into place," Rhea said.
"But at what cost?" Max asked. He was sulking in the corner, looking sorry for himself. I just walked over to him and leaned against the wall with a smile on my face.
"I'd say at the cost of VIRM's dignity, if anything," I replied, trying to cheer him up. I managed to get a slight chuckle out of him, but he still looked a little sad.
"Max... what happened back there... that wasn't your fault," Darling said. Max just nodded as Nikki knelt down and gave him a hug to try and comfort him.
"So, you guys are OK with going back with us?" Nikki asked.
"Me and Darling talked about it and we thought it'd be best to help you first. Plus, we have the means to come back right?" I replied. Nikki nodded in response.
"So, the QVE is all set up?" Celeste asked.
"All systems are a go for launch and we are set to return to our dimension," Eva replied.
"Not just yet. There's one last place I need to visit before we leave," Max said, standing up.
"And where's that?" Amki asked.
"Plantation 13."
Ichigo's perspective
All of us were just sitting in front of Mistilteinn, waiting for any sign of Nomad or his team to show up. But... at the same time, all of us thought that someone would also come arrest us because of our actions at the Bird Nest.
"You're certain that Nomad's OK?" Mitsuru asked.
"That's what they told us," I replied, looking up at the sky.
"You don't think that they're going to arrest us for what happened at the Bird Nest, do you?" Hiro asked.
"THAT'S what you're more concerned about?! What about that giant klaxosaur that just suddenly started attacking the others instead of us?! Didn't that seem a bit strange to anyone?" Zorome asked in a panicked state.
"Look, we should just be thankful that we're alive after something like that attacked the nest. And we should be even more grateful that it stayed on our side long enough for us to kill the other klaxosaurs," Ikuno said.
"Do you think that Nomad had anything to do with it?" Hiro asked. Before any of us could answer, a strong gust of wind blew through the entire area, blowing the leaves off of some of the trees and blowing our hair back. The source of the wind was coming from a small ship that gently touched down in front of the walkway. After it had landed and a small ramp opened up, Nomad came walking out of the ship, his armor seemingly covered in blue blood. Zorome immediately ran up to him and hugged him tightly.
"Where have YOU been?! Dude, it was crazy what just happened at the Bird's Nest! We were trying to get you out and then a whole bunch of klaxosaurs showed up, and then this HUGE one with three heads burst out of the ground and started tearing the nest apart! Next thing we knew, it then just started to help us take out the other klaxosaurs and then..." he started to say before Nomad cut him off by covering his mouth with his hand.
"I know what happened. I was literally being kept where the klaxosaur was attacking," Nomad replied.
"So... I take it that you're here to tell us that APE's considering putting us in a prison or something?" Ikuno asked.
"As far as APE's concerned, you were only there fighting klaxosaurs. And luckily, no innocents got hurt."
"Look, I know that you're gonna say that what I did was reckless. I just thought that if we just hit the side of the building instead of just tearing it open and endangering hundreds of other people, they would let you go. The side of the Nest where you being held had very little people occupying it and I..." I started to say.
"You don't need to apologize. You just took a risk to try and rescue me. If I were in the same position as you, I would've done the same thing," Nomad replied.
"So, what happened to the Sages?" Zero Two asked.
"The klaxosaur killed them. Which is both a good and bad thing for us."
"Bad how?" Goro asked.
"When I was up there... Papa and the Vice Chairman... I saw them do things that we were never capable of. Whoever they were... WHATever they were... they weren't human. Whoever sent them here clearly wants both us and the klaxosaurs dead. And I think that our war with these invaders is only just beginning," Nomad said.
"So... what happens now?" Futoshi asked.
"Leadership of APE was handed over to Haichi. He told me that he plans to relocate all of you to the Bird's Nest until the war is over. But, to be honest, I couldn't think of anyone who could protect us better than you guys."
"And what will happen to you?" I asked.
"Haichi told me where they were keeping my former partner. They say that she's been starting to remember who I am and she's been questioning where I am right now. He's given me the opportunity to see her before we prepare for the final battle," Nomad said.
"Will this be the last time we see you?" Kokoro asked. Nomad just gestured for us all to huddle together around him, which we did, and he put his hands on me and Hiro's shoulders.
"I honestly don't know what our future holds for us. But I need to go wherever I'm needed just like all of you need to go where you're needed. But I have faith that we'll see each other again when this war ends," he said.
"Then I guess this is goodbye for now. Thanks for all your help," Ikuno said, giving Nomad a hug. The rest of us followed suit and we all hugged Nomad goodbye.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I've had enough action for today. I'm ready to go in and take a nap until the transport's ready to take us to the Bird Nest," Miku said.
"We can do better! Let's celebrate Mitsuru and Kokoro's after-wedding and just take a moment to relax!" Futoshi said.
"That sounds like a great idea. Let's just enjoy our last moments here before we leave this place for good," Kokoro said before she took Mitsuru's hand and the two of them started to head back inside with Futoshi and Zorome following.
"Race you inside, Darling!" Zero Two said before she started to run toward Mistilteinn with Hiro trying to keep up with her and Miku and Ikuno following as well, leaving me and Nomad behind.
"You should be proud to be with such good friends like them. They're like a family," Nomad said.
"Yeah, I'm glad to be alongside them," I replied.
"I should get going as well. Haichi's probably expecting me to be back right now," Nomad said, turning to leave. But I just stood in my spot. There was so much that I wanted to ask him and I felt that I wouldn't get another chance to ask. Nomad must've sensed that I was still there because he suddenly stopped and glanced back at me.
"Something still on your mind?" he asked me.
"All this time, it felt like you were aware of what was going to happen, almost like you've seen these events before. I know you said that you've been watching us for some time, but I feel like there's more you aren't telling us. Who exactly are you?" I asked. Nomad just silently turned back around to face me before he removed his helmet, revealing the face of an unfamiliar man who had green eyes and short brown hair. I just stared at him for a few seconds in disbelief.
"Not who you were expecting?" Nomad finally asked.
"Not really. I just... had this crazy idea that you were... Hiro."
"That sounds plausible but it also sounds very unlikely."
"I know it does. I was just... sounding a bit crazy here."
"It never hurts to be sure. I know that some of the things I did made it look like I knew everything that would happen, but in truth, I didn't. I mean, if I did, I wouldn't have gotten myself captured earlier."
"But, if that's true, then why did you come here just to protect us? What exactly did you hope to accomplish aside from what happened today?" I asked. Nomad just looked back at me and flashed me a smile.
"A question for another day. See you around, kid," he replied before he put his helmet back on and got back on his ship, leaving me with more questions than answers as the ship flew away.
Max's perspective
"That was very heartfelt of you, Max," Nikki said as I came back onto the bridge of the Centurion.
"You could hear all of that?" I asked.
"Your comm was left on," Zero Two said, pointing to her ear. I just smiled and sat down in one of the chairs as Celeste set up the controls and fired up the engines.
"All right, we're ready for takeoff. Keep your fingers crossed and this hopefully works!" she said before the Centurion took off and she activated the QVE hyperdrive. The Centurion shot forward like an arrow and we travelled through hyperspace once again until we felt a sudden jolt and Celeste pulled the lever back and we stopped smack in the void of space.
"Did it work?" Odango asked.
"Well, my home beacon seems to be working now. Rhea?" Celeste asked.
"Yes. I can hear my ancestors again. But, how long were we gone?" Rhea said.
"Not long at all it seems. Look!" Amki said, pointing out the window. All of us looked out and saw a small ship being pursued by a much larger ship that was firing down upon it. I didn't recognize at first, but I soon realized that it was the Centurion being attacked by the Overlord's ship.
"We've come back to the point before we left. Before we ended up in Hiro and Zero Two's dimension," I said. Celeste immediately activated the hyperdrive again and we disappeared into the void before we were spotted again.
"So... what happens now?" Zero Two asked.
"It's time for us to start fighting back. We need to regroup and plan out where we're going to strike next. We stop them. Whatever it takes," Celeste said as we continued to move through hyperspace.
To Be Continued...
Chapter Epilogue: Earth 2139, After the War, Ichigo's perspective
They were gone. Our own two friends. Gone. All of us were sitting around where Zero Two's statue once was, a tiny little plant growing from the middle of where she once stood. My heart was completely sunk at the thought of us never seeing our friends again, despite the fact that they had beaten back VIRM and destroyed their home planet.
"I can't believe that after all this... they're gone," Ikuno said in sadness.
"I know. It's just... so much to take in," Kokoro said as her daughter, Ai, continued to rub her head to comfort her. As we continued to mourn the dead, we heard footsteps coming from behind us. It was Haichi.
"I figured that I'd find you all out here," he said, putting his hand on Goro's shoulder.
"Nomad?" I asked, my voice breaking a bit.
"I haven't been able to get in contact with him or the Plantation where he was stationed at. He's either missing or he's dead."
"Why'd you come out here looking for us?" Zorome asked.
"There's something that you need to see," Haichi replied, leading us all inside the Bird's Nest to the main control room, which was surprisingly empty, safe for Nana, who was sitting at one of the consoles.
"Where is everyone?" Futoshi asked.
"I asked them all to leave so that we could show you this," Haichi said, pressing a button which pulled up a blank holo-screen before it went black.
"Uh... what exactly is this?" Miku asked.
"We think it was Hiro's last message to all of you," Nana said before Haichi pressed a button which made the video play, revealing Hiro in a dark room with only the light of the camera or whatever he was using shining on him.
"So... this is to the Squad. I'm sorry if this seems a bit awkward. I've never done one of these before. I just want to say that I know how you all felt when I proposed that I go and save Zero Two, even though I knew that it could possibly end in my death. I know that you said that doing so was... selfish, mainly because I was disregarding everyone else's feelings. But, protecting our loved ones... that's what we've always done from the start. And that's why it hurts so much when we fail. When Nomad saved us that day, he showed us what it means to protect those whom we love, no matter what. I don't know exactly what the future will hold for us or for our planet. But what I do know is that we have a responsibility to our species and to our families. YOU were the best family that I could ever hope for. And I'm damn proud to have been a part of the Squad. See you all on the flip side," the recording said before Hiro put his hand on the screen. The tears came to my eyes as I put my hand on the holo-screen, followed by the rest of the Squad as we all put ours hands together to match Hiro's.
"Goodbye, Hiro," I said as we all sat there in silence.
