Inoue Children's Hospital - December 23, 2019: Akane and her mother sat in the waiting room, an awkward silence between the two. One of Akane's favorite tokusatsu programs "Ultraman Coliseum," played on the wall-mounted television, but Akane wasn't exactly in the mood for kaiju. Her mom had found her sprawled on the floor of the bathroom, her hands drenched in blood. Shards of glass strewn all about the carpet. It was a horrific scene.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, one of the nurses called out: "Shinjo, Akane? The doctor will see you now," Akane got to her feet and nervously followed behind her mother.
Inside the doctor's office, he slowly read through the chart Akane's mother had provided and filled out during the wait. He then pulled up the chart he had on file for Akane in his computer database.
"So," the doctor began, "It says here that Akane suffers from depression?" Akane's mom nodded.
"And how long has that been going on?" he asked.
"I think it may have started sometime last year," she explained.
"Do you have any idea what brought it on?" he asked as he took out a notepad.
"Akane... She used to be very personable with people, with her family, kids at school. She was outgoing and friendly with a bubbly attitude,"
"So, what changed?" he asked.
"Around I'd say early 2018 she and some of her friends at school had a 'falling out' of sorts."
"Falling out? Could you be more specific?"
"I wish I could doctor, but Akane wasn't exactly forthcoming about what happened, and I didn't want to pry into a subject my daughter obviously felt uncomfortable discussing," she explained.
"Now according to this chart, it says Akane was placed on anti-depressants, is that right?" she nodded.
"But I see here she stopped taking them around October of last year, is that right?" Akane's mom nodded once again.
"And the reason for that was..." the doctor asked.
"Akane came to me one day and said she didn't need them anymore," she replied. "And the thing is, for the first time in a long time, Akane seemed like her old self,"
"And what do you think brought this about?" the doctor asked.
"Doctor, I'm just her mother. I'm not some psychiatrist that can tell you exactly what my daughter is thinking and feeling 24/7, I only know what she tells me," she explained.
"Which isn't a whole lot, I take it?" he replied.
"What about you, Akane? What do you think about all of this?" he asked her.
"Akane, she's shy doctor, she always has been since she was a little girl,"
"You've been awfully quiet through this entire conversation, Akane. Please, talk to me. The only way you can help your mom and I figure out what's wrong and how to fix it is if you talk to us."
"Easier said than done," Akane thought to herself. What was she supposed to do anyway? What was she supposed to say? That she joined forces with an evil entity that came from God knows where? Had him create an ideal city for her to live in where she simply killed off whoever she didn't like? And that a digital superhero called "Gridman" saved her from the clutches of Alexis Kerib? They would have Akane committed on the spot.
"There's nothing to talk about," Akane finally spoke up, "there's nothing wrong with me, I just want to go home," Akane said as tears welled up in her eyes.
"I want that for you too, Akane, truly I do. But given the way you showed up here, with bloody bandages, and that nasty gash on your forehead, those are all red flags to me. And if you were to leave this hospital, and if something were to happen to you, this hospital, or even your mother, could be held liable."
"What are you saying, doctor? What do you think could happen to Akane?" her mom asked.
"Mrs. Shinjo, I have to ask you something that you may find offensive, but I have to ask you anyway," the doctor began. She nodded.
"Miss, does your daughter - does Akane suffer from self-harm?"
"You can't be serious!" she scoffed, "self-harm, my little girl? No, never. She would never hurt herself like that, not Akane!"
"I'm just asking miss, I'm not accusing Akane of anything,"
"I'm getting tired of you giving me the runaround, doctor - just come out and say whatever it is you're thinking and stop it with all of these questions!"
"Fine. Given Akane's history of depression, combined with this latest episode where she destroyed her mirror with a box-cutter, it is my professional opinion that Akane be held overnight for observation and that she be given a psychiatric evaluation."
"Wait, are you trying to say you think my daughter is crazy?" she asked.
"I didn't say that, miss. You're just putting words in my mouth at this point," he replied.
"You're a pediatrician for God's sake! You're supposed to help kids that come to you, not throw them in a psyche ward the first chance you get!"
"That's all I'm trying to do is help Akane,"
"Help? Calling into question my daughter's sanity is helping her?!"
"Look, miss, you may not want to hear this - but all indications point toward one thing - that Akane has suffered a psychotic breakdown. The sooner we can assess just how severe said breakdown was, the sooner we can get Akane the right sort of treatment,"
"Treatment? You mean more drugs?"
"Possibly," he began, "Akane may have to go on some anti-psychotic meds for a little while," he said.
"Oh... My God, I can't believe I'm hearing this," Akane's mother said.
Akane couldn't believe it herself. She finally had her life back, she was out from under Alexis Kerib's thumb, he held no power over her anymore. Now he was seemingly back and ruining her life all over again. Tears began to fall onto Akane's lap, her mother taking her by the hand.
"Don't worry about anything sweetheart, we'll figure this out," she said to her daughter reassuringly. Akane smiling through her tears.
Somewhere deep in time and space, a little girl of about six sang to herself as she drew on the asphalt with pink chalk.
"London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down, London Bridge is falling down, My fair lady." Suddenly, a dark and foreboding silhouette appeared overlooking the girl.
"My, my... what a beautiful singing voice you have," Alexis spoke, the girl looked up to meet his gaze.
"And talent to match," Alexis continued.
"Thanks, mister," the little girl spoke, "Do you want to draw with me?" she asked.
"I'd be delighted to", Alexis said as he crouched down. "What a magnificent and colorful canvas you have here,"
"Thanks, but what's a canvas?" the little girl asked, slightly confused.
"A canvas is a strong, surface of which to draw," Alexis explained.
"What do I call you, mister?" she asked.
"Alexis, you may call me Alexis. You may call me a friend as well, if you wish,"
"My mommy says I shouldn't talk to strangers," the girl explained.
"I'm sure Akane told you a lot of things, you poor child," Alexis spoke silently to himself.
"Oh, my. A stranger, me?" Alexis replied. "You misunderstand me, dear girl. I'm not a stranger, I'm an old friend of your mommy's, surely she mentioned me?" the little girl nodded no.
"Sweetheart?" Akane called out, "It's almost time to..." her heart sank at the sight in front of her. Alexis talking to her daughter.
"Kanae!" Akane screamed in a panic as she rushed over to the little girl.
"Hi, mommy. This nice man was just drawing with me," Kanae spoke as Akane crouched down to her level.
"Kanae, is it? What a beautiful name," Alexis complimented.
"Kanae, how many times have I told you not to talk to strangers, huh?" Akane said as she placed her hand on the little girl's chin.
"But mom... He's not a stranger, he says he's an old friend of yours,"
"And would I be wrong, Akane?" she heard Alexis speak to her telepathically through the link she still shared with him all these years later. Akane momentarily grasped her head in pain.
"Mommy?" Kanae asked as she picked up on her mom's discomfort.
"I'm alright, sweety," Akane replied "Just a little headache," she said as she glared at Alexis.
"Listen Kanae... Your dad will be here to pick us up any minute. Why don't you go play on the swings while you still have time while I talk to Alexis?"
"Okay, I love you, mommy!" Kanae replied as she sweetly kissed her mom on the cheek and ran for the swings as fast as her little legs would carry her.
"So, gods really do get married?" Alexis spoke to her telepathically once again.
"You of all people should know that I'm not a god, I never was," Akane talked back to him telepathically.
"To them you are," Alexis replied.
"I was, but I left that world and them behind a long time ago," Akane replied.
"That may be so, but that world you created... The world I helped you create, still thrives," Alexis explained.
"Why did you come here Alexis, and after all of this time? What do you want from me?" she asked.
"Want? Can't two old friends simply catch up and reminisce about old times?" he asked.
"That's just it, Alexis... We aren't friends," Akane corrected him.
"Really?" Alexis replied. "Well. Have it your way," the two stood in awkward silence for a brief moment.
"I see young Kanae takes after her mother and is equally talented as she was," Alexis spoke for real this time, without using telepathy.
"Yeah. I'm sure you'd love to get your claws into her, mold her into something rotten the same way you did to me," Akane replied.
"Is that really all you can remember of our time together, dear girl?"
"I remember a lot of things, Alexis. None of it good," she replied.
"And the day you and I met, do you remember that as well?" he asked.
"I wish I could forget," Akane said.
"As I recall, nothing was going the way you wanted it to, then Rikka Takarada, that is to say, the real Rikka Takarada, betrayed you in the worst way possible," Akane's body tensed up, her hand balled into a fist at the painful memory Alexis dredged up.
"Hibiki should have been mine," she thought to herself.
"And he would have been," Alexis telepathically again. "If not for your treacherous little friend,"
"Now then," Alexis began "About your little girl... Who is her father? Her real father, not the poor fool you tricked into being her father," Akane's heart sunk in her chest. Alexis wasn't even fit to speak her daughter's name.
"What makes you think I'd tell you, Alexis?" Akane asked.
"Of course I could just read your mind and find out for myself, but then where's the fun in that?" Alexis said. Akane was silent.
"Yuta Hibiki, he's the father, isn't he?" Akane said nothing. "One last painful reminder of the man who was stolen from you? And by someone you thought was your friend?" Still, Akane said nothing.
"I won't pry into the details of how young Kanae was conceived, it's written all over your face," Alexis taunted.
"You don't know anything about me or my daughter, Alexis," Akane spoke, her long hair obscuring her eyes.
"What if I told you I wanted to fix that?" Alexis replied. "You know what I'm thinking, don't you Akane?"
"Don't," Akane whispered.
"You can't stop me. If I wanted to snatch young Kanae and take her away from all of this, her loving mother, her seemingly happy and carefree life with you and the other man, I could. And there would be nothing you could do about it,"
"Take me instead Alexis, I'll do whatever you ask, just leave my daughter alone,"
"That's precious, Akane. But I don't want you, at least, not yet," Suddenly, Alexis' surroundings transitioned to a hospital setting, the thunder rolled and the lightning struck outside, as the real Akane stared down at her daughter's pale, lifeless body. Cut down by a hit-and-run driver who didn't even bother to stop once he realized what had happened, left Kanae on the side of a dark road to die. She was six, her whole life ahead of her.
"I want them to die, Alexis, I want every one of them to die,"
"Just say the word and I'll make sure everyone knows how it feels to lose a child just as you do,"
"One more thing first," Akane said.
"What's that?" Alexis asked, Akane took her deceased daughter's hand "Goodbye, my sweet girl. I'll always love you," she said as she kissed her daughter's forehead. Akane slowly walked away and took her place beside Alexis.
"Do it, Alexis," Akane said.
"With pleasure, instance abreaction!" the hospital wing was engulfed with a magnificent light, followed by a tremendous explosion that shook the building to its core. Alexis and Akane had vanished, leaving behind a tsunami of screams and piles of dead bodies in their wake. Everyone among the dead was real this time, not pre-fabricated programs in some simulation crafted by Alexis. Men, women, or children, it didn't matter. The kaiju that emerged from the explosion drew no such distinction between its victims, all it knew how to do was cause destruction. Countless lives, ruined in an instant. Akane Shinjo, the real Akane Shinjo died that night. Her heart more or less ceased to exist. Never would she feel anything for anyone ever again.
Akane's eyes shot open, she found herself back in the park, Kanae was safely playing near the swings, alive and well.
"What the hell was that, Alexis? What's it all about?" she asked a hint of fear in her voice.
"That was merely a sample of what could be in store for you and your precious little girl," Alexis replied.
"Are you threatening me, Alexis?" she asked.
"Call it whatever you like, Akane. Back in that cramped world of years, things like what you just witnessed would never happen, not when you were still a God anyway,"
"Just leave me alone, Alexis. Go back to whatever rock you climbed out from under, and leave me and my family alone,"
"If only that were possible, but I'm afraid it's not," Alexis replied.
"Truthfully," Alexis began "I shouldn't even be here. This time, this place, it's all very unfamiliar to me and may not even come to pass,"
"What are you talking about, Alexis?" a confused Akane asked.
"If I were to explain it to you, we could be here all day. All you need to know is that no matter what happens, whether it be our past, present, or future, I've left you scarred. You made a deal with a proverbial devil, Akane, and that's one mistake you'll live to regret,"
"You can feel it, can't you Akane? It's inside of you. A little piece of me, a fragment of my being you've kept at bay all these years, while never admitting it has slowly been gnawing away at what remains of your heart if you can even still call it that,"
"Do you want to know where you're at right now, Akane? You're in a hospital, one step away from the abyss. I put you there. And all I have to do is nudge you ever so slightly, and you'll give in to that darkness inside of you. And all those terrible emotions will come bubbling to the surface, the ones you've repressed, and then the real fun begins," and with that, Alexis disappeared, leaving Akane alone with her thoughts, staring out into space as the wind gently nudged away the hair obscuring her eyes.
Elsewhere in a laboratory, Dr. Zenon noticed an irregularity of sorts on his instrument panel.
"What do we have here? It seems that Akane Shinjo's vitals have spiked, something or rather someone has upset her very badly. Lord Gridman will want to hear of this news immediately,"
To be continued...