Disclaimers and Useless/Useful Stuff To Know [by Alba Aulbath]:
Don't own any of these series, except for Lasarius (shared with Nevermore22)
and myself. Never will. Wish I owned this. I am not responsible for your
own mental damage. ...Well, actually, I am. Let me know if I damaged you.
Chapter Nine:
Mission gone awry! Capture a vicious cycle!
or
If You'd Like To Make A Call, Please Hang Up And Try Again
Cloud's POV:
I smiled, despite the metal taste lingering
in my mouth. Just to spite them...
Sleepy... dizzy... I'm not all that sure how
to describe it, actually. I know I must have lost a lot of blood. Without
the wounds being treated, must have lost a lot... I can't really think
straight right now.
Especially with Renamon gagging near me.
What the hell were they doing to her? I squinted,
trying to clear up my vision. My sight wasn't necessarily my problem; it
was more like trying to concentrate on the things going on around me. Like
my attention span was shortened greatly.
Oh, Gods... they're making her eat her own
tail...
My stomach twisted a little. I told them off,
no matter what they did to me. They crushed my foot, but I'm not going
to let them beat me.
Thank God. Renamon just passed out.
Kiyone screamed.
Shit. What were they doing to her?
One of the men apparently had taken a hot
iron rod and put it to her back. Bastards...!!
I managed to throw myself onto one foot and
push off to tackle him to the floor. I know Kiyone really won't be safe
for long from that, but like hell I was just going to lie around and let
them get hurt anymore.
I was dragged away and pinned against the
wall, the lead man standing up and glaring at me. He ended up burning himself.
Serves him right.
"Just full of spirit, aren't we?" he growled
at me. I've seen these sort of guys before at Shin-Ra. They might speak
full of themselves, but they don't have any real guts.
"I try," I grunted at him.
The lead man lifted the hot rod up with prongs,
pointing it at my face. I didn't flinch; I dared him to just go and try
it.
He ended up grinning, then pointed it at Kiyone
again. She was crying softly from where she was, maybe too stunned with
fear and pain to try to sit up. "I'm going to offer you something, then.
If you really care about this," he motioned to Kiyone (bastard, acting
like we're less human than him), "then you'll do what I ask. My boots walk
through carcasses, blood, and flesh everyday. They hardly get cleaned,
especially when I prefer a spit shine. But because you don't happen to
have the right material, you're just going to have to lick them, aren't
you?"
It sickened me, it really did, but... "Don't
touch her," I hesitantly agreed. I've heard and seen what happened to a
lot of our team members. I'll do anything to keep it from happening to
anyone else, if I can.
"Of course not," he replied, as if not expecting
me to actually agree.
I've been stubborn up to this point. Stubborness
can be easily confused with honor. That's sort of true with me; I don't
like to think of myself as one often, but what leader doesn't have any
pride in them?
I got onto my hands and knees. I hate myself
for doing this, but like I said, if it gets someone else out of danger...
I'll do it. What Kiyone barely even went through was
nothing compared to Renamon...
My stomach flipped a few times and my heart
sunk as I did what was requested. I was licking his boots clean. I was
almost tempted to just throw up on them (and that thought didn't help any;
I'm sure several have before) but a deal is a deal.
Fuck... this was revolting...
I sat back, my entire mouth pleading for anything
else in my mouth as long as there was a different material, a different
taste. But like hell these bastards would give me even water. I hated my
bodily functions as I swallowed quite possibly human flesh amongst others
down my throat, pieces of skin still left in my mouth or caught in my throat.
I glared up at him. "...Or do you want the
bottom of your feet done, too?" I snarled. He just stared disbelieving
at me, that I had done that with my own free will.
"Yeah, I thought that might confuse you,"
I snorted at him. "You wouldn't do the same for your own comrades, obviously,
because it takes a real man to ruin his self worth for another being."
To say the least, everything went black when
I was knocked on the back of my head with the hot iron bar.
Whether or not I actually helped Kiyone, I
don't know, but I do know I at least stalled their attention away from
her.
Donna's POV:
I had actually dozed off in a chair, only to
be startled awake by someone shaking my shoulder rather harshly. I nearly
fell over, chair and all, before looking over to who had woken me up. "Washuu..?"
"Kunz-sama, come quickly! Something's seriously
wrong with one of the Chosen Children!"
I shot up like a bolt from my chair, toppling
it over in the process, before following Washuu down the hall.
The standard hospital room was packed. All
three Chosen Children/Digidestined groups were there, the Digimon, and
a couple of nurses. The arrival of Washuu and I brought the total number
to somewhere around fourty five people. Perhaps the fact that half of these
people were either very small or atop others' shoulders was the reason
that we were all able to fit in one room.
One of the Chosen Children, Ruki Makino, was
lying on the hospital bed, appearing to be in considerable pain. Her jeans
were rolled up to above the knees; odd wounds were at the knees.
"What's going on here?!" I asked loudly, confused
and concerned.
"It's the Tamer link." Jenrya Lee responded,
sitting next to Ruki's bed, clutching one of the girl's hands.
Ruki suddenly screamed, back arching up in
pain. Jenrya cupped his other hand around the one he clutched. Jyou and
the two Nurse Joys continued to try and figure out how to help the poor
girl.
I knew that they wouldn't be able to find
any way to help her. The damage being done on her partner who, last I checked,
was still on the infiltration mission. Something was terribly wrong with
my sister's team for Renamon to be hurt at this point.
An idea suddenly struck. I knew how to find
a way to figure out exactly what was happening with Renamon, and therefor
be able to treat Ruki here.
"Washuu!" The scientist looked to me at my
call. "Washuu, get a telepathic. Any telepathic. Heck, get Xavier, I don't
care, just get one!"
She nodded quickly before running out.
I didn't do much until Washuu returned a very
short time later (perhaps three or four minutes) with a very perplexed
pair of telepaths. I only stared at the scene before me, worry seeping
into my mind. Could my sister's team have been captured?
Washuu had followed my order to the letter;
she brought in Jean Grey and Professor Charles Xavier themselves. The back
of my mind wondered how we were still able to all fit in one room.
"Oh, my god," were the first words from Jean.
She ran over to the Tamer on the bed, placing a hand on the younger girl's
forehead.
"Jean.." I began. She interrupted me.
"I know." She closed her eyes, immediently
going into a deep concentration.
Ruki shrieked once more.
...And then my own mind was bombarded with
a devestating image.
It was rather hazy, as if the picture's was
being distorted. Two figures, one decisivly female, the other male, were
on the ground. The male atop the female.
Renamon and an unknown uniformed soldier.
The picture widened. Two soldiers held Renamon's arms down in a spread-eagle
position. The soldier atop her let out a laugh. It took me a brief confused
moment to notice that the man was only wearing half of his uniform; He
was naked from the waist down.
Renamon let out a howl of a cry as she was
roughly entered. It was painfully obvious what the man was doing to her.
Blood was everywhere. Her tail, half torn,
was bleeding profusely. Blood coated her muzzle more than any other part
of her body. Although, from the looks of it, that may be overcome from
the blood escaping her privates.
I was in shock. I felt like I was there --
yet, I was not.
After a minute, the soldier laughed again,
retracted out of her. The soldiers pinning her down grabbed her arms instead
of holding them down. Then, they flipped her over.
She let out another howl.
I clutched my head, closed my eyes, and released
a scream of my own.
..And, just as suddenly as it had come, the
images vanished.
I noticed, with a detatched form of horrified
curiosity, that I was lying on the floor, still in the hospital room. So
was everyone else, it seemed, except for the telepath in the wheelchair.
Struggling to my feet, feeling very weak,
I groaned. "What the hell..?"
Everyone else began to rise, as well. They
all had the same horrified expression. Some of the girls, and even a couple
of the guys, looked about ready to cry.
"Did everyone just.. Just see that?" Takato
asked, shakily.
Suichun began to wail. Sora tried to console
her.
Ruki was unconscious.
I frowned, already issuing orders. "Yamato,
Taichi, go up and down the hall. See if anyone else got the telepathic
image."
Both nodded, despite seeming to be in shock,
and ran out.
I looked at Jean. "Why the hell did we all
see that?"
She looked flustered. "I-I don't know! It's
never happened before!"
"Ahem." I looked at Xavier as he spoke up.
"I see two theories here. Either, the bond between Miss Makino and her
partner were so strong that it simply overloaded Jean's psyche to the point
where she accidentally sent the image out, or.." He paused.
I didn't like the pause. "Or?"
He looked troubled. "Or, there was another
telepath involved that sensed Jean."
Taichi and Yamato came back at that moment.
Taichi spoke first, "No one else got the image. Looks like it was only
in here."
I nodded, but was still troubled. "Well, isn't
this just prime.."
Third-Person: Orion
The door - a small, out-of-the way metal door
with a pair of simple electronic locks - popped open as Koushiro stepped
back from it; Orion dragged it open, and got the group through; as he followed
behind, he deliberately smashed both keypads with the hammer of his weapon.
No one was going to follow them through this door - which would force any
guards chasing them to detour to a different entrance to this part of the
lab.
A feral grin flashed across the large man's
face as he stepped past the group and started leading the way again. "Careful,
now. We're back in the area they keep the favorites in..." Most of his
mind focused on his surroundings; another, smaller part kept itself aware,
waiting for any telepathic 'brush' from Genereux's pet telepath... And
one other, tiny corner of his mind growled to itself, waiting the chance
to act.
As they prowled through the corridors, with
Orion always leading with nearly-silent footsteps, they passed by some
of the more gruesome results of the 'experiments', stored in tanks of something
similar to formaldehyde. Without exception, all of them were hideous -
some were Frankenstein-like patchworks, made from the parts of different
creatures, and all of them with their faces frozen in blank pain and fear;
others were sliced apart, the internal organs exposed to the light; still
others were... Altered, usually in grotesque ways - some with cybernetics,
others through gross deformations.
Finally, Orion drew up at a windowless door.
"Koushiro... Try cracking the lock on this door. At least a few of the
Favorites should be locked up in here, unless they have few enough to keep
them all in a single room." As Koushiro worked on that, he gave the rest
of the group a glance; most of them were regarding him a little suspiciously,
by now; he hadn't made any mentioning of rescuing those trapped behind
the door when it slammed shut.
As the door clicked open, he flashed a bitter
smile at them all, and guessed the reason behind the supressed suspicion.
"...Don't worry. I plan to rescue them, too. But they'll still be being
tortured by the guards who caught them just now. They'll need time to be
locked away somewhere where we can rescue them. And until then, we have
people who need to be freed." His eyes glittered slightly, and he jerked
his head towards the door. "Now c'mon. Let's free some people."
The room was one that was intimately familiar
to Orion; small cages hung from the roof, suspended from a long, gleaming
chain of what seemed, at first, to be silver - although the steel-like
glint from it gave away that it was truly mithril. This was the room where
the Brotherhood had been kept for so long, and where Orion had encountered
them. And the room where his 'friend' Foxfire had died.
It was currently occupied by only two creatures
- one of them a small, furry white creature with a single weird antenna
projecting from his head, and the other... The other a teenage girl with
honey-colored hair, and a gemstone on the back of her hand. Beyond that,
she was completely nude - common, in this place. Both of them were in the
same cell, opposite the door.
The girl hardly reacted to the intrusion;
the other creature, however, must still have been fairly new to the torture
rooms, as he leaped up with an acrobatic grace, and squared himself between
the girl and the door. "Kupo! You're not going to hurt her any... More?"
The creature's voice trailed off, confused, as he saw the group entering;
definitely not guards or technicians, and even more obviously not any of
Genereux's occasional 'visitors'.
Sharon spoke up as the group filtered into
the room and shut the door. "We're here to get you the hell out of here!"
Orion smirked slightly, and shoved the door shut again - from inside, a
simple handle kept it shut. While Koushiro worked on opening the locks
of the cell, he reached up and grabbed the chain from the roof in his hands,
braced himself, and jerked on it with all of his strength.
With a series of gunshot-loud cracks, the
roof broke and the chain and cages came loose, falling to the floor with
an earsplitting crash; everyone save the girl in the cell and Koushiro
leaped, whirling to face Orion.
"What the fuck did you do that for!?" Sharon
almost shouted; between the deafening noise and a shot of surprise and
panic, her voice was at a pitch that would've been able to cut glass.
"The cages and chain are mithril. If we take
some back, Lasarius won't be the only one able to make things out of it..."
Any further comment was cut off by the sound of the cell door opening,
and the glad cry of the nonhuman within.
His cellmate didn't even bother to lift her
head, simply cringed farther and started to shiver in fear.
J'onn J'onzz - Martian Manhunter
I am typically... a person I would like to
say who is able to keep himself controlled in a situation. I am not often
one who is expressing his feelings out loud.
This place... it is easy to break one's soul
here. I can do nothing to help my comrades. I find it difficult to even
have the strength to speak to them. I only wish I were capable of helping,
but my being here only made the situation far worse.
"A loud one, isn't he?" She noted calmly to
me. I did not need to reply to her; she knew my thoughts. She better than
anyone would know. "So loud... you can't ignore him... can you pick up
on his thoughts? You do know him..."
It felt as though she worked her fingers through
my mind, prying away my thoughts by every sentence... word... letter...
My situation? My situation. I did not describe
it...
I was in a cell, I believe. My memory is a
bit vague. When another psychic is at work, I receive migraines of the
worst. At any rate, the cell...
I recall two other companions with me. I was
moved constantly to be within the vacinity of this woman as they knew I
would affected by her. Either that or I was left in a room having temperature
control. As a martian, I am sensitive to heat. To say the least, I was
affected easily, leaving me much weaker than usual.
I am getting off track.
The Flash and Green Lantern were with me at
the time. Green Lantern's ring was taken from him, left just an inch from
his grasp. I sensed this frustrated him; Green Lantern is man who would
never leave his companions behind, and I had felt a friendship between
him and Flash, as... intruiging as it could be at times.
Flash's thoughts are constantly loud, but
always too fast for me to comprehend. I do not like to pry into others's
businesses, but this was the only time I could not control it. I was far
too weak to block out his privacy, and this day was the loudest I had ever
heard from him.
WHATCANIDOAGHICAN'TMOVEHOWDIDTHISHAPPENHOWHOWHOWUNCLEBARRYWOULDN'THAVE--
"What do we have here?" She mused, catching
the keyname. It had taken some time, and I left my confidence on Flash's
speed to keep him from danger of her psychic abilities. [Who is this Barry
you think so fondly of?] she wondered, and I sensed her beginning to finger
her way into Flash's memories.
I heard myself scream, although quieter than
when I first arrived here. I had been doing that constantly, but it never
failed to bring a smile to her face. I couldn't quite remember then what
Green Lantern had been yelling at her, but I knew it was nothing positive.
["I don't want to wear it," Wally West whispered,
looking at the suit of the Flash. "I don't want to wear it! I'm not him...
I don't want to be... Uncle Barry..." He started to cry again for the fifth
time that day--]
[I see.] She was amused. I only wished to
not see this; it was an invasion of his privacy, and already it was taking
affect.
"Uncle Barry..." Flash murmured, starting
to shake.
"Flash, are you--" Green Lantern began, but
he was cut off quickly (as he usually was, but I digress the point).
"Don't call me that!" he cried out quickly,
retracting as if he had been hit.
[He was your predecessor... I see...] she
continued to worm her way into his mind, slowing his thoughts to being
much more comprehensive. It was the time I did not want to ever understand
him; it was his memories, not mine. It was not my business...
["I just wanna stay being Kid Flash. Why can't
it just go back to the old days...? Why did you die, Uncle Barry?"]
Time travel had wandered into his mind constantly,
whether he was fast enough to do it, but if he had it would end several
other lives if he saved his uncle...
[A mere sidekick?] she chuckled. [You wanted
to stay that? You are even lower--]
We both noticed another psychic at work, long
distance.
She smiled. "A new player?"
{Renamon...} I sensed the name, what the other
being was seeking--
I could not concentrate on this. If this person
was seeking another, perhaps they could help. It was the only link I had,
the only time she was not working quite as hard to see us in constant pain.
I had not much power, but I sent what images
I could into the link, what was going on. I doubt I sent it to the other
psychic, much less the several other people she was with... I have no idea
who I sent the message to. I do not know if I succeeded in getting us help.
But it was something I had not seen in days. It was hope.
[You want to find your friend?] I sensed her
chuckling inwardly, giving a visual of who this person was looking for.
I dare not even come to describing it... These
people fight for humanity, and yet cause such inhuman acts. I have
never seen such contradiction.
She looked to me, smiling. [I know what you
did. And for that, I will only work harder.]
I regret nothing that I did. I only regret
what pain I put Flash into, and hope I managed to accomplish in getting
help...
Mousse's POV:
As much as anyone else, I was wondering how
the mission was going. I've been there a few times, and I know I'm not
the only one wondering whether or not Ryouga was even still alive. I sort
of blame myself in a way; I was right there when that idiot got himself
lost. Knowing what could happen to him wasn't comforting, and I just hope
he didn't get caught.
It's one of those times I'm just too heavily
relieved to know Shampoo hasn't been to the missions lately. I don't know
what I'd do if she was captured and left there for a full day... a minute.
Just imagining it, it would destroy anyone's innocence, or what they had
left over in themselves.
I wasn't doing anything in particular; we
were all gathered in the training room, although most of us having low
conversations, not capable of making light of the--
PAIN
SUFFERING
HURTING
SAVE
A man in a red suit, crying. Another in a black and green outfit, looking
enraged. I didn't know them, but this was the only image that showed. Just
these two, possibly in a cell. I could sense just how much fury this dark
man felt, and the other in the red outfit feeling just horrible, like someone
had just died right in front of him.
HOPE
COME
PLEASE
--situation.
"Mousse?"
Only Shampoo caught my attention as I looked
away, readjusting my glasses. "Y-yes?"
"Mousse look at nothing," she pointed out.
"Mousse look like he in pain." Shampoo looked concerned, which once would
have made me melt just pleased knowing she had consideration for my being.
However, being here... has made me more aware of other people. We've all
kind of grown closer due to this whole war. "Mousse okay?"
"I'm not sure," I said honestly. My head ached
so badly. What was... that...?
Suddenly, I felt like I knew what I had to
do. I couldn't explain it. It was like I was given instructions implanted
into my mind, and I automatically knew where to go and what to do.
"I'll... be right back. My throat's dry,"
I whispered, standing up and taking my leave.
Normally, I would have done anything for Shampoo's
attention. But then... the situation was crucial. There was a cry for help,
and I had to answer it. I had to answer it. There was no other choice,
it seemed.
In the hallway, going the exact same directions
to the exit as I was, I met Vash the Stampede. He was a very, very tall
man who was as cheerful as you could get. He was too happy at times. He
reminded me slightly of the monk man named Chichiri, whose mask constantly
smiled.
"Where are you going?" I demanded.
"Hm? Ohhh, out for a stroll in the moonlight,"
Vash replied with a bright smile.
I looked at him seriously. "It's prohibited
during a mission. Actually, all the time if it's without permission."
"Then why are you going out?" Vash wondered,
looking a little smug.
I flushed a little, but glared at him through
my glasses. "Someone needs help," I said seriously.
Vash was a little more serious now, which
surprised me. "A man in red and another man in black and green."
"Yes. That's right," I agreed, pushing up
my glasses. "You... got the same vision?"
Vash nodded, smiling again. "We'd better both
hurry before someone catches us! I won't leave someone there, especially
when they call."
"It feels like I'm not allowed to just sit
down anyway. It's... pulling at me," I tried my best to explain.
"Exactly! So, shall we go, Mousse?" Vash said,
starting to head off.
I followed, bewildered. I doubted we could
succeed, but like I said: I couldn't just sit there. And Vash completely
understood.
Jen's POV:
Another vision?
Well, I did go insane before. I'm still...
ah, pretty questionable when it comes to mentality.
I was laying in my room, just looking at the
ceiling, hoping everything was going well. Then I got a creepy vision.
I was pretty damn sure I saw two superheroes. But, then, I find it pretty
ridiculous; I've dreamt about superheroes before. Because I've been insane
just recently, and I'm worrying like hell, and I'm feeling so fucking guilty,
I'm not surprised I just got an insane vision.
It's pulling... telling me to go... somewhere...
But I can't. I can't ruin the mission. I can't
make things worse.
So I just rolled over and closed my eyes,
hoping for the best for Sharon and the others.
"Don't screw up... God, please don't screw
up," I whispered for them.
Third-Person: Orion
Orion stood back as the others tried to coax
the girl into uncurling, into doing anything but sit there and shiver;
he didn't move, instead staring at her as his mind hunted through his memory
to find out why she looked so familiar. Gradually, it dawned on him, and
moving forward, he spoke. "Fuu...? Fuu Hououji?"
That got a response, if barely - the girl
lifted her head slowly, peering over the very edge of her arms at the person
addressing her. Between the fuzzy state of her mind, the harsh lighting
half-blinding her, and her naturally poor vision, it was easy to see why
she confused him with someone else. "Lan... Lantis?"
Orion sighed quietly, and shook his head.
"No... But I am a friend. Here to rescue you." He carefully approached,
and knelt a short distance from Fuu. "Do you know where Hikaru and Umi
are?"
Blinking slowly, and clinging to the promise
of a friend, here to rescue her, she took a shuddering breath and shook
her head slightly. "N-no. The soldiers - they broke into the school. A-and..."
She almost collapsed inward again, but caught herself and forced herself
to continue. "The other girls... They took them. As... As toys. I was...
Lucky." She shivered, and her voice dropped to a whisper. "They were under
orders to find me. All that... Because of me being a Magic Knight."
For a moment, silence held sway over the room
- then Orion reached out, and lifted Fuu's head with the tip of his index
finger. "You feel guilty?" At her nod, he rose, and held his hand out to
her. "Come with us, then. We're part of an army fighting those responsible
for those soldiers."
"Kupo!" Before Fuu could reply, the small,
furry creature shoved between the two of them. "An' why should we trust
you? You could be tryin' to trick us into escapin' so we can be killed!"
The ball on his antenna bobbed as he folded his arms across his chest and
gave a short, angry nod.
Orion gave him a half-amused look. "Why would
I bother to lie? If we were with Genereux, we could kill you anyway. If
we wanted to make it accidental, or like we didn't do it, we could just
throw you out into the hall and kill you." He gestured to Zelgadis. "...Besides,
since when have Genereux's pet murderers gone around with nonhumans?"
"I suppose you have a point. Kupo... All right!"
A white-furred hand was jabbed out. "Kupo! I'm Mog!"
Orion couldn't help but chuckle as he shook
Mog's hand - he'd thought the general look was familiar, but hadn't been
able to place it, until told the name. "Glad to know we don't have to rescue
you by force, Mog."
"Orion? I think we're about to have company."
Zelgadis braced his feet against the floor, holding the door as it suddenly
jerked and tried to slam open; the chimera's strained face showed the kind
of force behind the blow.
"Great. Mog, keep Fuu safe. Everyone else,
fan out. Zelgadis, when I count to three, move and let them in." Orion
hefted the warhammer from his belt, and nodded to Fuu. "Keep yourself safe.
Maybe one of the soldiers will be kind enough to be the right size for
you to wear the uniform."
Third-Person: Elliot
>Talker. Wake up. The voice-that-was-not-a-voice
intruded into the nightmares of Elliot Thomas Knuth, as he lay curled up
in a cell not too different from the one which had been holding Fuu and
Mog. >Wake up. He stirred slightly, and opened his eyes to see one
of his usual companions - a translucent, foggy image of what might've been
a person, once upon a time - leaning over him, two pale red 'patches' that
served as eyes right in front of his face.
"....Ugh?" He didn't really want to move -
yesterday had been spent in the Maze, trying to avoid being electrocuted
while hunting for the exit, so every muscle in his too-skinny body ached
and burned any time he moved them.
>Talker, get up. There are others near. Free
ones. Fighting the soldiers. That got his attention, and he rolled
over painfully, climbing to his feet and leaning against the cage wall.
>I remember one - I think. Not sure. But I think I do. Big, strong, with
dark hair. And others. All fighting the soldiers. And rescuing two captives.
A girl and a white thing.
"And this means what to me?"
>They came from the other way. If they live
they might rescue you. And you can free us. The figure nodded, or at
least tried - the wispy form rippled, at any rate. >Yes. Free us.
Jen's POV:
I was getting hungry. Don't tell me you didn't
see that coming.
At any rate, I was heading outside into the
hallway from my room. My room is actually nearby where all the traffic
is since I actually like noise, so people are constantly walking by unless
it's mission time, where everyone just kind of stays put and prays for
the best.
Which surprised me when I found Shampoo wandering
the hallway with Akane, Ukyou, and Ranma. They all looked concerned.
To be honest, I never really "bonded", so
to speak, with any members of the group like I normally do with at least
one member of each group. As much as I loved almost everybody, I just never
clicked with any of them. Buuuut, that's besides the point. What surprised
me was that Shampoo looked the most concerned, and Mousse wasn't out following
her.
"What's going on?" I asked, raising a brow.
"Stupid Mousse turn into Lost Boy," Shampoo
muttered.
I blinked. "Pardon?"
Ranma clarified, "The blind duck went to get
a glass of water, but it's been twenty minutes."
Ukyou nodded. "We checked the cafeteria, but
only a few people were there and they said they never saw Mousse come by."
"That's weird," I agreed. I paused. Wait a--
...ohhh, shit. "Did something happen to Mousse before he said he was going
to get it?"
Shampoo looked a little more concerned. "He
look like he hurt, but told Shampoo he fine. Shampoo not really believe
and wonder what happen..."
"Is anyone else missing?" I asked immediately.
"Other than people on the mission."
"Meryl-san and Milly-san were looking for
someone," Akane replied.
"Meryl and..." I began to repeat in questioning.
"Milly? Milly Thompson, right?"
Akane nodded. "I think so."
I rubbed my face. "ERRRRGH! NO! Nonononononooooo!
It WAS real!! AAARRRGH! And those idiots! Running off! I can't believe
them!!"
"Um... did you just snap for really no good
reason?" Ranma wondered.
"Oh, I snapped awhile ago," I said, suddenly
perfectly calm. "I'm going to pretend this was all a dream, because it
has to be a dream--I mean, why the hell would I suddenly have a vision
about two superheroes?!"
"Vision?" Ukyou looked at me.
"Forget you heard anything and just continue
your search," I said, exasperated. "I need a nap. A longgggg nap because
I refuse to believe this right now until I wake up and realize it was either
a dream or it's all real and I go into a fetal position and suck my thumb.
See you later."
Thus, I went back into my room, leaving the
Nerima group confused and myself hungry, a pulling at my heart, telling
me to go...
But I refused and napped. And I knew I'd regret
it.
Mousse's POV:
I really didn't want to go, and yet I did at
the same time because I knew something told me to go. Something was guiding
Vash and me toward where we were being called. We honestly had no idea
where we were going, but internally it was like a beacon leading us there.
We ended up at a door. Locked. And being idiots,
we didn't have a single hacker with us.
"If we break it, alarms go off and we're spotted,"
I uttered out, feeling a little furious at myself for not thinking ahead.
Vash looked at me with a grin. "Now, now;
things aren't as desperate as they look, my friend! Just hang on a moment."
He turned his back to me, starting to fool around with the controls.
"That's dangerous!" I hissed at him, readjusting
my glasses. "You could get us caught!"
"We're going to get in," Vash told me somewhat
seriously. "And we're going to get out in one piece."
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. Well,
we came by this far, just the two of us; we were risking the failure of
a major mission and risking our lives for two others. Why not go all out?
It was stupid, what we were doing. I really
doubted we could do it, with almost all of my heart. That troubled me a
lot; what if I never got to see Shampoo again?
I wonder if she's even worried about me, at
least a little?
I twitched a smile. If it was just a bit,
then that's enough for me.
"We're in," Vash informed me rather cheerfully.
"How'd you manage to do that?" I wondered.
He wasn't a hacker, not as far as anyone knew.
Vash just smiled. "It's more important that
we're in and not how you know. Let's hurry! We're going to be spotted."
True. No matter how hard we try, we always
managed to get spotted...
"We're in an area where some favorites are
kept," Vash said seriously. "Keep on your guard; there's a lot of men here."
"You could tell by the control panel," I figured
out.
Vash nodded. "We'd better hurry!" He pointed
overdramatically. "Come!!" With that, he ran inside without much of a thought.
I seriously didn't know Vash that well, but
he was definitely over happy, especially in a place like this. I followed
him inside quickly, preparing my weapons inside of my robes.
I really hope I could see Shampoo again. Everyone
can hate me as much as they want if I got back because I'd be happy just
not being stuck here like so many others.
Donna's POV:
"Okay, would someone please explain why it
was so fucking important to call me away from a level three emergency!?"
Rhinox and Hank McCoy both stared at me with what looked like
fear.
We were in another room in the hospital. To
say that I was livid would be quite an understatement.
Rhinox coughed, a feat I thought impossible
for robots. "I'll say this much for Lasarius's scientists.. When they want
something fast, they get it fast." Black and white ultrasound pictures
flickered across a screen on the wall.
Unborn fetuses in various stages of pregnancy.
"The impregnated ones?" I asked the pair,
the initial anger of being called away from the Tamers wearing down.
"Yeah. Here, take a look at this." Mr. McCoy
had two pictures on the screen, side by side.
One looked like a fetus in an early stage,
barely having formed a real body. The species of the first was unknown
at such an early stage. The second looked like a Ronso baby in a seventh
month stage.
Mr. McCoy pointed to the first picture, "This
is what a baby looks like seven weeks after being concieved." He then pointed
to the second picture, "And this is what Miss Lulu's baby looks like now,
seven weeks after being impregnated."
I blanched, blinking once. "That's not possible."
Rhinox explained before I could say anything
else. "Advanced aging. I don't even know how they're able to do it. All
I know is that these babies are fully formed after nine weeks instead of
the usual nine months."
"This would explain how they were able to
get children with Mighty's and Filia's blood, though." I sighed.
"I'm afraid that it's even worse than all
this." Mr. McCoy frowned. "The women carrying these infants are dying."
"What?" I asked, shocked.
Rhinox had a grim expression on his metal
face. "Their bodies can't handle the children forming at such an advanced
rate. They'll all die at childbirth."
"Is there a way to slow down the advanced
aging? Or to help them in some other way?" My voice was hard, to keep hysteria
from creeping in.
"Abortion, but even that could prove dangerous
at this point. C-Section before childbirth, but that may too result in
the death of mother or child or both." Mr. McCoy looked just as grim as
Rhinox.
"We can't just leave them like this. Keep
looking for alternatives."
"That's what we planned to do."
Chibichibi's POV:
I pranced through Knothole2, a smile on my
face, acting like the child I was ment to be. The child I was supposed
to be.
It's getting more and more difficult to keep up this charade.
The serious and mature expressions that keep coming accross my face either
amuse or confuse others, and I'm sure someone has atleast gotten suspicious.
I was skipping past a hut when I heard a shout
from within, through a window.
"No! No, she can't be!"
"Wakka, please, lower your voice!"
Curious, I trotted on my short legs to directly
underneath the window, standing on the tip of my toes to peer inside.
Wakka and Rikku, of Tidus's group, were apparently
upset.
"No, after everythin' that's happened, I refuse
to believe that--"
"Wakka, she's dying! There's nothing
we can do!"
The red-haired man slammed a fist into the
wall next to him. "It's that damn Lasarius's fault! All of this!"
Rikku frowned. "Wakka.."
"Get out of here, Rikku. I wanna be alone."
Rikku paused, but then left the room. Wakka
sat on the bed, placing his head in his hands.
Briefly, I considered walking away. However,
what kind of Sailor Soldier would I be if I did that?
I climbed through the window, making a bit
of noise on purpose. As expected, it got Wakka's attention.
"Huh.." He looked a little confused.
"Chibi chibi!" I chirped, keeping up the charade.
I then looked at him, putting on a concerned yet still childish expression
on my face. "Chibi chibi?"
He still looked upset, but it was now touched
with slight amusement. "Yer a weird kid."
I giggled, trotting over to him. I looked
at his face, the concerned expression back on my own. "..Sad?"
The amused touch fled. He looked surprised
for a moment. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm sad."
I cocked my head to the side, making sure
to seem curious. "Chibi?"
He must have translated that to mean 'Why',
which I was hopeing he would. "One of my friends is hurt." His tone of
voice treated me like an infant, too. Perfect.
"Love stop hurt." I said as simply as I could.
Hopefully, he would get my message. "Love friends? Chibi?"
He gave me a strange stare for a moment, a
mixture of shock and confusion.
After a moment, he smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll
help her." He then chuckled. "You really are a weird kid."
I only giggled childishly. Although, I really
was happy at that moment. He understood.
Without being told, I toddled out the door.
Mousse's POV:
Whoever sent the message also apparently inserted
a navigation sense on our heads, something Ryouga could really use.
I frowned a little. Ryouga... where did that
moron go? Even Saotome has been worried about him, whether he'd actually
admit any kind of feelings or not. I know it sounds disheartening, but
he even might be dead at this point...
Aside from that, the point was that Vash and
I were going through easily. We didn't actually know where we were, yet
we did, something prodding us along. I just hoped we could trace our way
back just as easily when we got this over with.
Naturally, things can never be that easily.
I wonder just how many alarms they have in
this God forsaken place...
"We're getting close!" Vash yelled over the
gunfire. I'm sort of glad there was only two of us then; less of a chance
for others to get caught in the mess.
"I know!" I replied. Like him, I could tell.
Whoever we were supposed to get was near.
Vash fired off what sounded like a single
shot, but unless my vision was more impared than usual, even with my glasses
on, he made several shots with his gun, injuring the men in the hallway.
I frowned; why wasn't he just finishing them off? They were more trouble
than what they were worth.
I slid out a simple dagger, wandering over
to finish the job. Maybe his aim wasn't as great as I had heard.
"Wait, Mousse!" Vash called for me, sounding
more concerned than cheerful, which got my attention.
I turned my head, scowling through my glasses.
"What?"
"Don't kill them; they're out of the battle,
so we don't have to do it," Vash told me.
That didn't make sense at all. "They'll just
get healed and we'll have to fight them another day," I told him logically.
"We should finish them while we can!"
Vash frowned, startling me. "There's always
a situation where no one has to die."
I sighed. "Fine. Let's not waste anymore time."
Just as I had figured, the area where we had
headed was tightly secured, but Vash had no trouble injuring them to keep
them down. I wasn't sure why he was against their death; he knew what exactly
these monsters did to people, so there was no point in letting them live.
However... his voice sounded sad. I knew well what sadness was, so I had
to respect his wishes.
Just this once.
Vash held up his hand needlessly; I could
somehow sense we were at our destination, although he noticed something
right away before I did.
"Someone's crying..." he noted quietly. He
turned to the door, then immediately got to the controls, his back to me.
I waited for him to hack into the door, glancing
around the area. Underneathe the wall a few yards ahead of me, light shone
through...
Before being able to wonder about this, Vash
got the door open. I turned back around, entering with him and took a brief
look over the people we were rescuing.
The exact people in the vision. A man in a
red bodysuit (and I mean in completely covered his body) and had a few
lightning bolt designs on the costume. He was the one crying. The other
man (he was unconscious) was mostly in black, having some green on his
outfit and some sort of design like a... lantern. I'm not sure how that
came into mind, but I suppose it made as much sense as the entire mission.
His skin was dark, very dark... "African Americans", I recall, but I didn't
see many at all in Nerima.
Vash looked to me, "I'll get him," he told
me, pointing at the one in red, "and you get the other guy."
I raised a brow at him, although this was
masked by my bangs and glasses. The man in red was the most bound up in
the room, the other man having simple shackles on his wrists. The one crying
had thick bands on behind his back and his ankles as well.
"Okay..." I said uncertainly. "Good luck."
I turned to the unconscious man, taking out an axe. With a quick swipe,
the chains were broken. I caught him as he fell over, sliding his arm over
my shoulders. He was a pretty big man in comparison to me, which actually
says a lot. I only look fragile in such big robes, mind you.
I found a ring only a few inches away with
the same green design on it that the man I was carrying had. It must have
been his, so I took it easily off the small pedestal it was resting on,
managing to slide on his right ring finger. It went on easily, at least.
"I'm done!" a fried-looking Vash told me,
picking up the other oddly suited man with ease.
I stared at him. "...What happened to you?"
Vash laughed, as if embarrassed. "The shackles
he had on shocked me whenever I tried to do anything, but I managed!" He
managed to shrug it off. "Shall we go?"
Once we took a step outside of the cell, I
paused. "Just a moment," I said, walking toward where I saw the faint light
from under the wall. "Can you take this guy off my back for a moment?"
Somehow, Vash managed to do it even with his
arms full. Sounding more strained, he asked, "Another cell?"
"Maybe," I replied. I put my ear to the wall,
knocking slightly. Just I thought... "It's hollow. Someone must be inside."
I held up my arms, a pair of scythes appearing on my wrists. Thankfully,
Vash took a note to back off as I twirled around, making a perfect circle
in the wall. It slid out, landing in front of me as I put away my weapons
for the moment. Looking up... I wasn't even sure HOW to describe what I
saw.
It was nothing organic, but I've grown used
to robots among us in Knothole2. Still, it seemed like a humanoid robot
with his outer coverings stripped off. It was just dangling there, dripping
with something silvery. Somehow, although mechanical, it was somewhat disturbing.
"We need to help him," Vash said quickly.
"I'll carry him," I agreed, quickly leaping
and hacking off the bonds. Once I landed, I clumisly caught the robot,
getting his fluids onto my robes. It was painful; he was much heavier than
the man I started to carry a minute ago. Still...
I placed what I hoped was his arm over my
shoulders, starting to carry him, following Vash down the hallway.
In the next few moments... well, I learned
that whenever you hear a booming voice yell "THERE THEY ARE!!" it usually
means you're in deep shit.
"Kuso!" I hissed, feeling my arm shot. This
dampered my carrying for the robot we just rescued.
"Mousse!" Vash called after me, alarmed. He
set the two men against the wall, starting to fire off rounds of his gun
at the opponents.
I cursed softly again, more of them coming.
I held up a buzzsaw, the closest thing I had to a shield to cover us. "Now
what?!" This was so frustrating! We were too close to succeeding,
and now we're probably going to get caught. I hated to think so negatively,
but that really seemed to be the case by that point!
Vash laughed nervously, holding up his gun.
"...Out of ammo," he told me.
I glared at him, "Why are you laughing at
a time like this?!"
"Um... can't we just be friends?" Vash tried
to talk to the men. "...Kumbayaaaa--"
"QUIET!" one of them yelled. "Fire at them!"
My buzzsaw was already up to the limit of
its damage. I sighed heavily.
"We're going to be fine..." Vash whispered,
trying to assure me. I wasn't listening, not convinced in the least. I'd
be stuck here...
Shampoo...
Then the unbelievable happened.
The floor crumbled underneath the men in front
of us. And coming out of it was a very dirty and dusty Ryouga, holding
up a jackhammer.
"Where am I now?" he demanded, then noticed
me. "Mousse!"
"Ryouga!" I was actually very relieved, not
just because he was alive, but he just saved us.
Vash beamed. "Welcome back, old chum!"
"...I'm going to repeat those words because
it bares repeating: 'old chum?'" I asked, eyeing him.
Vash ignored me, picking up the original two
we came for. "Follow us and don't get distracted! Here we go!"
I never felt so relieved... we actually succeeded.
We did it. And I never felt so glad to see Ryouga, the lost idiot.
He took the bot for me. "Be sure to STAY following
Vash and only Vash," I told him. "We really don't need to lose you again."
Ryouga smiled, showing his fangs. "Hmph. You
were worried about me?"
"A little," I chuckled a bit.
We managed to return to Knothole2...
I just wonder of the consequences of going
on a unconfirmed rescue mission. By ourselves. No permission.
I was positive we were in major trouble, but
I was just happy to be alive and not a captive.
Jen's POV:
I woke up. Because I wanted to and I needed
to...
Dammit, why can't I just be sane?! I don't
think it was a dream. It couldn't be... it was too real...
I was tapped onto again, but I'm pretty sure
whoever's doing it is trying to piss me off or it was completely by accident
because it was a clear enough image to know what was going on. Yet, because
I was still in a dream-like state, I only remember thoughts and flashes
of disturbing images. I can't remember the images too well, but the thoughts
were way clear. The tugging was gone at least.
The thoughts... they were like my own, only
not.
thanagar help me make it stop i can't stop it make them GO AWAY HELP
ME WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?!?!?!?!
Because of that, I let out a hi-pitched shriek.
I never scream...
I was awake, looking around, then noticed
that I shattered a few windows.
"Jen! OIII!"
Duo was knocking on my door really hard. I
got up shakily, opening it. "Hai?" I replied tiredly.
"We heard some kind of bird come from around
here!" Duo told me.
I stared at him. "A wha?"
"A bird! Maybe a hawk..."
I froze. Well... monkeyshit...fuckbeans...crapmuffins...
AAAHHH!
"Unfair!" I growled, punching a wall in my
room. "UNFAIRRRR!! Argh! J'onn, leave me the hell alone!"
"...What? You know something I don't," Duo
noticed. He knows me a lot better than most of the people here. He's like...
my second closest friend, after Donna. We really click. When Donna has
to be there for others, Duo always seems to help me out. I really appreciate
him as a friend. Although cute, I'd never be interested in a relationship
like a lot of squealy fangirls I've met before.
Anyway...
I nodded heavily. "How much glass broke?"
"A lot. Your door, my door, windows..." Duo
listed off the top of his head.
"And it sounded like a bird? Hawk?" I asked.
Duo nodded, then stared at me funny. "Was
that you?"
I sulked. "...Yeah." I got back up. "I need
to find Donna. Where is she?"
"I last heard she was at the hospital," Duo
replied. "Could you tell me this time what's going on?"
I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah...
but come with me. I don't wanna tell the same story twice."
As we both ran toward the hospital, there's
a reason why I know it's J'onn J'onzz sending me these visions, on accident
or whatever. First of all, the first image was no doubt a call for help,
which I unsmartly ignored. Secondly, it was on the Flash and the Green
Lantern. Thirdly, the second images, while I couldn't remember, had a keyword
for me to figure out who it was: Thanagar, the home world of Shayera Hol,
or rather Hawkgirl. Finally... well, I screamed like a bird; do I really
need to explain THAT?
I'm pretty sure that was heard throughout
Knothole2, just as well...
Thankfully, I didn't have to go far, but it
was helluva confusing...
"Jen! I have some VERY bad news!" Donna started.
"Mine's worse," I challenged.
"Um... can we get by?" Vash asked in a tiny
voice, and I nearly fainted at who he was carrying.
"Mousse!" Donna noticed behind him.
"Ryouga?!" Duo noticed someone obscurer.
"Why are you carrying the Flash and G.L.?!"
I cried out, ready to rip out my hair.
"What the hell is going on?!" a confused Duo
wanted to know.
Third-Person: Orion
The group crept through the halls of the lab
complex - Fuu now wearing a uniform 'borrowed' from one of the guards who'd
come through the door - with both Orion and Ryoko nursing injuries; Ryoko'd
gotten shot with an energy weapon in the upper arm, and Orion had gotten
in the way of a guard's baton. Ryoko's wound had been cauterized by the
shot, but Orion was limping, trying to keep the blood seeping through the
bandage from leaving a trail behind them.
None of them were prepared when a side door
slammed open by itself, followed a few seconds later by a thin, feral-looking
man; he leaped out, hit the far wall, and leaped off, almost like some
kind of hunting cat, leaping for Koushiro with a wordless scream.
Ryoko blocked the leap with her good arm;
the two collided with enough force that they went down in a tangle, Ryoko
trying to get a grip while the mysterious attacker struggled and snarled,
trying to get free. "Let me go! They want the Machine destroyed! Have to
find it, and break it!" In the middle of one thrash, his wild, insane eyes
caught sight of Orion, getting ready to club him to make him be quiet;
in an instant, he went limp, staring. "You're the one. They told me - you
were prisoner here. And you came back to fight." He paused for a moment,
then wrenched free of Ryoko and leaped to his feet. "Let me help! I can...
Fight!"
Five minutes later, the new 'rescuee' - who
claimed his name to be Elliot - was helping Orion pick a path through the
lab, in spite of his strange habit of talking to the air; the path they
took lead them through several back corridors, until they emerged into
another small room - this one with a half a dozen cages, half of them with
captives.
Sharon opened her mouth and screamed, when
she saw the creatures in the third cage - what looked like giant humanoid
ants. Orion clamped one giant hand over her mouth, muffling the sound until
Zel slammed the door shut - then he plugged his ears and let her scream
while looking over the rest of the captive.
One cage held what looked like a giant shag
rug - until Sharon's renewed screaming woke it up, and it stood up, easily
eight feet tall and built more like a gorilla than a human. Mog seemed
to recognize - judging by the way the moogle dashed across the room as
fast as his short legs would carry him, yelling "Umaro!" at the top of
his lungs.
The next cage held a slim woman, curled up
the same way Fuu had been, long green hair cast forward over her face and
knees; still, it wasn't much trouble for Orion to recognize her - Rydia,
the only surviving Summoner from Final Fantasy IV. Still with his ears
plugged against Sharon's still-going scream - she'd backed into a corner,
eyes locked on the ants - Klackons, actually - he crossed the room to the
second cage; he just hoped he could get her out of her funk somehow, and
get her moving.
Donna's POV:
After a few minutes of chaos, I somehow managed
to get everyone inside the hospital. Well, after sending the rescued superheroes
into emergency care. Take no chances with the rescued..
At any rate, Jen, Duo, Mousse, Ryouga, Vash
and I were sitting in a weird sort of semi-circle. More like a misappropriated
hexigon, but nonetheless..
I sighed, rubbing my forhead, "Jen, fill me
in. What the hell is going on?"
Jen laughed and she started to rub the back
of her neck. "Well... um... to be honest, I'm nearly clueless. Um... NEARLY,
that is. It kinda started awhile ago... uh... there was this vision thingy...
and I'm pretty sure Mousse and Vash had the vision, so they went. But...
I kinda stayed..." Guilt was written accross her face.
"..Vision thingie?" I raised an eyebrow.
Jen grinned, but it was strained more than
usual. "Yeah... it was of Flash and G.L. Sort of. More like just a brief
scene of them, and a message to go with it. I think Vash and Mousse are
better off explaining EXACTLY what that was like since I took a nap after
I had it. I'm really sorry I didn't go with you guys, but... um..." She
frowned. "Duo can vouch with me that I've just kinda been tired lately,
I guess."
Duo shot up his hand, a little perky for the
situation. "Pretty damn tired, if you ask me!" He stared at Jen. "And weren't
you going to explain that bird-screech thing? You promised!" Jen let out
a small laugh that sounded along the lines of "eh-heh-heh".
I stared at Jen, curious. "Bird-screech thing?"
Jen looked a little surprised. "Oh, you didn't
hear it?" Then she flushed. "Um... anyway, it was the second vision, but
I got in my sleep, but it was no doubt a vision all the same. I'm pretty
sure Mousse and Vash got it if I did."
Mousse seemed to scowl behind his glasses,
looking at Vash questionably. The outlaw shook his head, then Mousse looked
back at the entire group, "We didn't. We only received that one vision
so far."
I looked at Jen, sighing once, "Jen, what
did you see in this second vision thing? Better yet, what the heck did
you three see in the first vision?"
Jen frowned, as if trying to figure out a
very difficult math problem in her head, so Vash took this turn in explaining.
He stood up and gave an overdone salute,
"Sir! Ma'am! Sir!" He grinned a little at that... odd introduction, but
then his face grew a little more serious. "We saw those two briefly, but
I felt a lot of internal pain from them. They were in a cell, and... well,
I didn't exactly see words or hear them being spoken, but more like they
were implanted into my mind, telling me and letting me FEEL what they were
feeling. Then I felt that I just had to go; no questions about it, so..."
He beamed again. "I did! And Mousse came along, which I appreciate 'cuz
I don't think I coulda done it alone! And apparently we got some kind of
navigational thing in our head to tell us where to find them, because I
honestly had no actual clue where we were going."
Mousse nodded a bit. "It was the same way
with me. And Ryouga came in time to help us, too, but he didn't get the
vision to clarify that."
"...Probably a good thing Lostboy didn't get
the vision, or he would've tunnelled out of Selenity's bathroom." Duo grinned
a he said this, grinning somewhat mischivously at Ryouga, who only growled
and glared in response.
I let out a soft sigh, looking at my best
friend. "Continue.."
Jen spoke up again, "And about the second
vision... well, I guess no one else got it, as far as we know so far. But
anyway... it was on Hawkgirl." Her frown deepened. "I can't give you any
details. No pictures in my head are really THAT clear enough to tell you
what was going on and what kind of message. Actually, I don't think it
was message; it seemed... forced. Anyway, it was about Hawkgirl, I could
tell because I HEARD her thoughts, one of them mentioning Thanagar." She
paused, then clarified for the others, "Her home planet. I felt A LOT of
pain, in my head and my body. I knew it was too realistic to be a dream.
Then I apparently screamed, 'cuz Duo told me so and my windows broke. But
he told me it sounded like a bird, so I know it's Hawkgirl. And I think
I know who sent these two visions; how, I don't know, but I have a good
idea who it is."
I sighed again. A lot of sighing tonight,
it seemed. "The only psychic of the group, I'd say. The Martian Manhunter,
right?" I then frowned. "Jen.. Lulu is dying." I really hadn't meant to
shift the conversation so rapidly; I figured that the group had to know.
By now, I'm sure just about everyone else knew.
Jen smirked a little at first at the "Martian
Manhunter" name; the group only really called him "J'onn" since his superhero
name really is... kind of a mouthfull. But her expression changed at the
news about Lulu. "...Well, fuck," she sighed, sliding down into her chair.
"Care to spring up anything ELSE, D?"
I looked to the others to see their reaction
to the second half of the news.
Ryouga looked too shocked to say anything;
while he was hardly even remotely close to Lulu and probably didn't even
know her, hearing the news of someone dying in the same vacinity as you
are is just a lot to think about.
Mousse took it a little better, but didn't
say anything either, noticably scowling since he had propped his glasses
on his head.
Duo looked more mad than anything. He shook
his head, muttering something to himself as he crossed his arms, looking
at the floor.
The one with the biggest reaction was Vash.
His eyes were widened as he took in the news, then stood up, looking down
at me. Vash was looking pretty concerned, as if one of his closest companion
was on the verge of death. "Is there anything we can do for her? At all?"
he asked, his hands tightening into fists. He was taking it harder than
Duo was, the God of Death as he called himself. "Please! Isn't there ANYTHING?"
Vash seemed to beg.
I sputtered for a moment, shocked. "Vash-san.."
I struggled for the right words, then sighed again, looking to the
ground. "Vash-san, it's the child she was imprenated with. All the impregnated
women are in the same situation. The children are forming too fast for
their bodies. The scientists and doctors are trying to figure out a way
for both mother and child to survive even as we speak. We just have no
idea what will work and what won't." I paused. "Something happened with
Sharon's mission. As far as we know, Renamon was tortured. Badly. So badly,
that Ruki is experiencing her partners' injuries."
Jen reached out and took Vash's wrist, understanding
him a bit better than I did. He sat back down, quietly and a lot less perky
than he was before. Jen looked at me again, frowning, "Great... The news
it just getting worse and worse. Is there anything else that we should
know?" She paused, then frowned. "Sorry. I sound kinda snappy, but... well,
this is a lot and everything's just dropping on us at once... anything
else, D?"
I shook my head, a bit sadly. "Thankfully,
nothing else to my knowledge. I was about to check exactly what females
we have that were impregnated. Need to tally up the different species."
I looked at the five of them. "Would any of you like to come along? I'm
sure any of the woman could use company."
Vash stood up immediately, coming up with
an amazingly cheerful smile considering how he was so depressed just a
second ago. "I'll go!" he announced. "The insurance girls can wait a little
longer on me."
Mousse shook his head. "I should probably
take Ryouga with me back to the others; I need to explain to them what
happened, anyway."
Jen said, "I'll come, but probably not for
long. I wanna check on Flash and G.L., actually... Whatever happened to
make the Flash cry had to be something pretty bad. I mean, I don't wanna
sound heartless and not stay, but I don't think it'll settle with me too
well to be there too long."
Duo nodded, just to show he'd come, too. But
he didn't say anything.
Considering the complete lack of room in our
hospital, all of the two dozen or so impregnated females were in individual
beds in one fairly large room. Still crowded, but at least it didn't look
like something from a third world country.
Jen, Duo and Vash were all silent. A miracle
in itself. Three Nurse Joys and a young girl I didn't recognize were careing
for the various patients.
I signaled for the three with me to go look
over the various patients, even as I did so myself. Although, first, I
checked in with one of the Joys.
"All of this is simply too much. Though, I
have to admit, it's rather lucky that it's two dozen instead of two hundred
that are in this condition." Nurse Joy Seventeen (as according to the name
badge) let out a sad sigh. "Still, I'm very worried about all these women.
None of the scientists have come up with a way to help them yet.."
"Cletus-a-petus, this is a problem major!"
I blinked over at the strange slang. To be
honest, I've heard stranger slang used around Knothole2; It's only expected.
Still, the words struck me odd.
One of the other Joy's, who's name tag I was
unable to read at the distance, walked over, "What is it?"
The young girl was typing at a hand-held flat
computer. "This is gaseous.." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know
why, but her child is a doing the advancing thing faster! She's due earlier!"
We all headed over. "Faster?" I asked.
The girl, who wasn't wearing a name tag, continued
to pound at the computer. "I seriously don't get these readings." A Nurse
Joy took the pad, however.
"..Holy shit, D-Chan!" Jen called me over
to the head of the bed with the woman in question.
I ran over, "What? What is it?" Then, I looked
over to the woman on the bed.
The lack of mask and wings lead me to unrecognizability
for a moment, before I noticed the small stumps of what could have been
the base of wings at her back.
"..Aw, shit, no.." I growled.
Jen shook her head. "Fuck... fuck, what the
hell are we gonna tell G.L. and Flash?" she muttered, but more seemed to
be on her mind than she was letting out. Duo had arrived after her, patting
her shoulder comfortingly. "It figures... it really fucking figures," Jen
growled.
I heard a gasp, and looked to Vash. He probably
didn't even know who she was, but he looked absolutely horrified at her
appearance. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but seemed to
realize there was nothing to say. Vash was reacting as if she was dead
or had just died in front of him.
"Vash-san?" I asked, concerned.
Vash sighed heavily, closing his eyes. "I'm
sorry, Donna-sama," he apologized. "Death... doesn't agree with me. If
there was anything I could do, anything I'd wish for, is that everyone
would come out alive."
I nodded, understanding.
Then, I looked back to the weak woman on the
bed, placing my hand on her forehead. A simple touch like that tends to
awaken the weak and sick into consciousness; I learned that from caring
for my sister when she got sick. At any rate, her eyes did open. Confused,
pained, but at least aware.
"Shayera Hol?" I called her real 'civilian'
name.
She seemed a little surprised for a moment,
but was too tired to question it. Shayera merely looked at me, mentally
and physically exhausted as she nodded once, but slowly. Strangely, I expected
her to question how I knew her name, but she didn't.
I looked up at Jen, then back to Shayera.
"..Hawkgirl?" I asked, a bit more hesitantly.
Once again, she nodded. The stumps on her
back twitched slowly, causing Shayera to wince, then look terrified as
she looked over her shoulder. She looked ready to just break down, which
was a little startling; the way Hawkgirl Jen and I remember was tough as
nails and had a temper just as bad as Lina Inverse.
I frowned deeply. "Miss Hol, I know this is
difficult.. Can you tell me what happened to the rest of the Justice League?"
I noticed Jen opening her mouth, probably to protest, and I looked to her
and cut her off. "I sincerely doubt we can get any information from the
newely rescued." I purpously left out exactly who we rescued, lest
Shayera get any more upset.
Shayera appeared stronger than her expression
had led us to think. She scowled, although tiredly, but replied with little
hesitation, "We came when we heard of an attack. We didn't want to take
any chances, so we all went, but they were better armed than we suspected."
She frowned. "I'm not sure what happened to Batman, whether or not he escaped.
I was out before I could see... but otherwise, I know for certain that
they were all captured." Taking a new turn on the conversation, she eyed
at me eerily. What better way to say than like a hawk. "Do you know if
any of them are all right?"
I looked to Jen, then to Vash, then back to
Shayera. "I'm not sure. I've only seen two, who were rescued today. I wasn't
even aware that the Justice League was involved until an hour ago."
Despite the vagueness, Shayera seemed somewhat
satisfied with that response.
Jen suddenly shot up from her chair and ran
out the door, startling not only me, but just about everyone else. Duo
ran after her a moment later. "Oi! Oi!" Calling after her.
I was left stunned for a moment. Then, I looked back down at
Shayera. "I'll be back to visit you later. Rest now, okay?"
She seemed a little put off, probably because I was treating
her like a weak child, but she nodded, even as I got up.
As it were, over half were human. Two were
female Ronso, four were Mobian species, and the rest were various individuals.
For the first time in a very long time, I actually
arrived at the destination I intended to go to without chaos in the form
of an interruption.
My destination? A secluded hospital room,
small and bare. All the room had was a table, machinery, and a patient.
I think the room used to be a closet or storage room.
The room had no decoration. At all. No windows,
no pictures, not even a fancy lamp or chair. The room seemed to have no
personality. Just silvery metal walls, floor and ceiling.
The patient laying on the table, hooked up
to life-preserving machinery, was robotic. Cybertronian, if I was right
on the way the body appeared. Mousse and Vash brought the robot in, no
outer shell (I think the technical term is 'stripped to the bare hydrolics'),
so Washuu had quickly outfitted the unknown 'bot with a 'protoform' shell.
A slate gray in color, no beast or transformable parts, emotionless and
lacking individuality. In all retrospect, the 'bot looked like a lifeless
droid.
I hoped that the 'bot's voicebox was at least
functional. Or, at the least, its sanity intact.
I didn't even have to say anything, and the
robot's bright green optics bore on to me. I couldn't tell what the robot
was thinking, facial features (or lack, thereof) being what they were.
I spoke first. "Are you awake?"
Surprisingly, I got a response. "Where.. Why
do I have a body?" A deep, male voice.
Odd question. How long had he been without
an outer shell? Still, I smiled. "It's okay now. You were rescued from
the lab you were held in." At least, I think he was held in a lab. "I'm
general of Neo Queen Selenity's resistance. You're safe here."
"I'm.. free?" He sounded surprised and relieved.
"After all that time.."
"Once we have an outer shell with some personality,
you'll be able to walk around with everyone else. There are other Cybertronians
here." I paused. "You are Cybertronian, right?"
A slight nod. His optics faded and brightened,
the equivilent of a blink. "Other Cybertronians?" A pause. "Have you heard
of an Optimus Primal?"
I blinked. "Optimus Primal?" How would he
know of Primal? Unless.. "Wait, you're a Maximal?"
"Optimus Primal is here, then?" An eager tone.
"And the others? Rhinox, Rattrap, little cat?"
I nearly fainted right there and then. There
has been only one Maximal to ever use the term 'little cat' in reference
to another Maximal.
"Tigatron?!" I yelped, shocked. This wasn't
possible.
Another slight nod. "How..?"
But.. But.. "I thought that the Vok kidnapped
you."
His voice took an angry tone. "The Vok.. They
were destroyed by Tayata Lasarius's army."
Oh boy. That was not good. The Vok
were suposed to be ultra-powerfull creatures. "Excuse me." I walked out
of the room, but began running once I was in the hall, calling into the
nearest com to call Optimus Primal's Maximals and Megatron's Predacons
immediently.
The Maximals and Predacons kept a wary distance
from each other, scowls on their faces directed at the opposite faction.
Still, they can't get along with each other.
I stopped their scowl contest with a glare
of my own. "Oh, just stop for five minutes and listen to me. I didn't call
you all here to watch you make faces at each other."
Waspinator pulled his toung back into his
wasp mouth, looking guilty.
I sighed a bit at that. Then, calming down,
I addressed the two groups seriously. "What do you all know about the Vok?"
Most of them gave me a confused stare.
"The who?" Cheetor asked, voicing the main
thought.
"The.. The Vok?" I looked to the trembling
Tarantulas, who laughed nervously. "Eh-heh, why would you need to know
about them?"
We all stared at him. I sighed. "Lasarius
somehow destroyed them and -- "
"Destroyed?!" Tarantulas interrupted.
Shock was clearly on his expression. "Heh-heh, that's not possible."
"Well, it is. A rescued captive validated
it himself." I looked to the very confused Maximals. "The same aliens that
kidnapped Tigatron and Airrazor." All of their expressions simontaneously
turned to shock.
"Eee!" I turned back to the Predacons at Waspinator's
surprised shriek. Tarantulas had fainted, nearly falling on the transformer
wasp in the process.
I blinked a couple of times before sighing
again. "Someone take him to a bed someplace." Rampage wound up dragging
him off.
I looked back to the Maximals. "I don't know
if Airrazor is alive or not, or where she could be, but.." I paused. "Tigatron
is in the hospital. His outer shell is gone, so we had to give him a drone's.
But, he is alive."
Cheetor ran towards the hospital immediently
at a quick pace. The rest of the Maximals followed at different paces.
Megatron came up behind me. "General, would
you inform the rest of us on the nature of these 'Vok'?
I turned to him, frowning. "If I knew alot
about them, I wouldn't have asked Tarantulas. When Tarantulas wakes up,
though, we can all get some answers."
Back to the hospital. I'm not sure whether
to be troubled or not at how often I wind up going back there. Too many
injured people.
A Nurse Joy (who I could almost swear multiplied
through asexual reproduction) directed me to the room that the Green Lantern
and the Flash were in. A standard hospital room, small, two beds. Simple
enough.
As soon as I entered the room, I noticed how
badly off the pair were. The Flash, still in a slightly torn costume, cried
on a bed. The Green Lantern was sitting on a chair, also in costume, looking
none too happy.
"..Mr. Green Lantern?" Something I never thought
I'd hear myself say.
Green Lantern turned his head as I called
him. A wary expression was clearly evident. Silent for a moment. "What?"
A cold response.
Taken slightly aback, thought I probably shouldn't
have been surprised, it took me a second to respond. "Ah.." Was my oh-so-brilliant
(note the sarcasm) start. "I'm General Donna Kunz of this resistance."
I took a seat at a chair next to the doorway. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting
anything, but I need to know what happened."
The fact that I was a decade younger than
him and a general seemed to have set him back. Again, a response I should
have expected yet was still surprised to see. He gave me a strange look
as he spoke. "You need to know what happened!? I'd like to know
what the hell happened to my friends, if you don't mind." A harsh tone.
I sincerely understood why he was acting so
venemous towards me. I told him as much. "I know why you're upset, but
you would know more about anything than I would. I wasn't even aware that
your world was invaded until a couple hours ago." I paused, letting out
a sigh. "How did they attack your world? I would figure that the populance
would support the Justice League instead of some pro-human activists."
He scowled a little, pausing, probably to
think over what I had just said. I could tell that there was mild distrust,
but I couldn't hold it against him.
After a few tense minutes, he began to explain.
"Most of them were apparently from another world, anyway. It didn't matter
who supported us; there were still plenty who thought we were 'too good
to be true', or something like that. What happened was that there was supposedly
an attack on a city. We came in to stop it, but it was more than it first
appeared. A trap, plain and simple. We held out for as long as we could,
but even Superman eventually went down."
I frowned, letting out a soft sigh of frustration.
I would have thought that their world would be left alone. After all, they
protected humanity. "Do you have any idea what happened to any of
the others? I know just talking about it is difficult, but we could use
all the knowlage we can get.."
Green Lantern's fist clenched at the question,
glaring. Well, not glaring at me, but at thin air. "I have no idea
what happened to Superman, Batman, or Wonder Woman, but I'll tell you what
I can. It's safe to assume that these people have a psychic on their side,
considering how much J'onn was going through and how I.." He paused, looking
even more infuriated, if that were possible. "..knew what happened to Hawkgirl
and Fl--" He glanced at Flash, still crying on the bed, not stating his
title. "..Him."
I blinked twice. Curious and concerned, "Is
there a reason you won't call him by his title?"
Green Lantern's expression had lightened somewhat.
"The psychic that was there did something to him--personal enough that
it seems to agonize him if I or anyone else says it."
I nodded softly, growling slightly. "Michelle..
I'm really starting to hate her more and more, and I havn't even seen her
yet.." Looking back to Green Lantern, and the odd expression on his face
at my grumblings, "The name of the psychic. Michelle. Female, right?"
Green Lantern nodded slowly. "That would be
her, then." He didn't look any happier than I did. "I'd be more than happy
to pay her back for what she did to us..." His ring glowed a little at
that statement.
I looked to the stark white floor, unsure
what to say, lost in thought. I honestly never even thought that DC superheros
would be joining us in this fight, or be under siege by Lasarius's army.
Of course, considering who we already have,
I shouldn't be surprised.
The creaking of the door as it slowly opened
got not only my attention, but that of the Green Lantern's as well.
"...." I could only make out half of the little
girl standing there, door only halfway open, but the red hair pulled up
in a heart-shaped bun was a dead giveaway.
"Chibichibi? What's wrong?" I asked softly.
Chibichibi walked in, a frown on her face,
a sorrowful expression far beyond what a child of her age (or the age her
body is, at any rate) should express.
Neither the Green Lantern or I made a sound
as she walked over to stand next to the still crying Flash. I took a step
closer, myself, to see what she was doing.
She placed the tips of her small fingers onto
Flash's forhead. A strange expression came accross his face, but his eyes
closed.
I was alarmed for a moment, untill Chibichibi
looked to Green Lantern and I. "Don't worry. I only put a little bit of
peace in his mind. I wasn't sure what else I could do to help him sleep."
She was speaking like an adult. Something
was wrong.
I looked over to the Green Lantern, curious
on his reaction. He seemed.. Grateful. Good. Atleast he wasn't suspicious
or angry.
I looked back to Chibichibi, just in time
to see her walk over to the Green Lantern. She looked up at him, eyes rather
large. An adorable picture. "Don't worry. You're safe now, here."
Green Lantern, despite looking a little calmer
since Chibichibi helped Flash, didn't seem to lighten. "My safety
right now isn't my concern."
Chibichibi cocked her head to the side, a
curious expression on her face. "Of course your safety should be your concern.
If you aren't well enough to help your friends, then your friends can't
be helped. The individual helps the consensus."
I said nothing, and only watched.
He shook his head a little. "And how do you
propose I help them? I don't even know if they're alive, aside from Flash."
His usual harsh voice had toned down a little. Only a little.
Frowning, I got up from my chair. "Chibichibi,
what's this all about? Why are you speaking like an adult?"
The supposed-to-be three year old turned to
look at me. The sorrowful expression on her face again. "I'm tired of the
charade. I should be using my mind to help others, not to conceal it for
fear of my own well being." She looked back to Green Lantern, only to look
back at me. "You really should tell him about the girl in the fourth medwing."
Green Lantern's face turned back to the cold
expression, eyeing me. "..Girl? What girl?"
I let out a nervous cough. "Well.. Hawkgirl
is in medwing four in.. Well.." I paused. "Not too good condition. Alive,
if that's what you want to know."
Green Lantern looked horrified for a moment,
then shook his head. "Not too good condition? That's an understatement."
he growled softly.
Chibichibi was silent, looking on much in
the way I had been a moment ago.
I stared at him, concerned. "You know what
happened to her, then?"
He let out an angry mutter under his breath,
but he nodded. "It was that psychic -- Michelle, you told me. I saw and
felt what happened to her." he replied, looking furious.
Something wasn't right. It was as if we were
talking about two different things. "What did you see, exactly?"
Green Lantern glared at me. "I could see it
being done, I saw what happened to Flash and J'onn... and I couldn't do
anything!" He took in a breath, then scowled again. "'Pro-human'... yeah
right. They do the most inhumane things I've ever witnessed..." He crossed
his arms. "They cut off Hawkgirl's wings. Something like that wouldn't
be able to hurt her spirit, though. They plucked and fried them right in
front of us -- her. Then they forcefed her."
I could practically feel myself blanchind
several shades. Chibichibi let out a gasp, paled, and covered her mouth
with her small hands in shock.
It took me a few minutes before I was able
to respond. "..Damn." Suddenly, I felt even more terrible for having to
deliver even more news. "..That wasn't all that they did, I'm afraid.."
Green Lantern looked up, eyeing me with worry.
"...What happened?"
I didn't say anything for a few seconds, not
quite sure how to put things.
Seemed I didn't have to. Chibichibi spoke
up instead. "She's pregnant with a forced child that's forming too quickly,
dying from the effects of it, and her emotional state is nearly unrepairable."
At first, Green Lantern seemed to just completely
relax, taking the information in. Then his fists tightened. He probably
would have wrecked the room if it didn't mean waking Flash.
Chibichibi suddenly got a strange expression
on her face. "..I'll go and check on the Nurse Joys. I heard that something
big came up with them." And with that, she bolted out of the room.
I sweatdropped slightly at that, looking at
the door the child had left a moment ago. Then, looking back to the Green
Lantern. "..I'll let you think everything over. If you like, you can visit
Hawkgirl for yourself." I headed to the door.
Before I left, I looked back. "I'm so sorry
about everything, Mr. Stewart."
I left before he could respond to my knowledge.
Mousse's POV:
Once I arrived back to the others, I could
have melted in pleasure.
"Ryouga!" a good portion of them had said.
"Mousse!" Shampoo actually hugged me,
which almost caused me to faint into bliss. Then she let go, then smacked
me on the head. "Where stupid Mousse go?! Shampoo worry! Go for glass of
water; you lie to Shampoo! And Lost Boy back; what happen?"
Rubbing my head, but still smiling, I was
more than happy to explain, but... well...
Now, I know Shampoo didn't hit me that hard,
or at least hard enough to make my head hurt like it was smashed over and
over and over with a sledgehammer. It was so agonizing, I actually screamed
out and fell back, holding my head. I almost forgot who I was for a moment
because of what I felt, saw, heard, touched...
I felt too hot. Boiling. Like I was stuck
in a desert with nothing to drink, but somehow it was a million times worse.
My mouth, throat... so dry... my head was pounding so badly. It felt like
my sight was even worse than usual, because I couldn't focus. Everything
seemed darker and harder to think. Even when I did try to think, something
told me my thoughts were not my own, and someone was prying through them.
Unwanted contact...
My vision cleared just for a moment, enough
for me to remember a steel room, aside from a wide window in front of me.
A figure stood behind the window, and I swore I could sense a dark, conniving
smile there. Somehow, I knew... I knew it was a woman.
And I hated her with all my being.
But my emotions wouldn't help me. I was still
suffering, somehow living... My head, the heat...
I couldn't concentrate on thoughts anymore.
Screaming was somehow satisfying.
wally west:
Tired. Hungry. I wanna sleep.
Where am I?
Hungry. Eat. Now.
Hospital?
Foooooood...
What happened again...?
Stomach go "growly growly"; GET FOOD!!
There was J'onn, G.L., and that really weird
woman, and...
Oh, yeah.
Well, fuck.
No food?
No food.
Ah.
I sat up, then my head rushed, not keeping
up with my body. Blah. Slowpoke. But then...
hungry
Shut up.
food?
Can't think; I can remember a few things,
though. Really disturbing... There's a mirror. I don't like what I see.
I need to get this off. Now.
eat?
NOW.
okay
The mask is off. Don't exactly look like a
five-star person right now, but don't really care right now. I had to get
the suit off!!
Man... all I can think about is... Uncle Barry...
I stumble to my feet, staring blandly at the
mirror there. All I have left are my boxers, which really don't suit my
situation right now.
I sit down onto the bed, putting my face into
my hands. Man... Where the hell am I...? Where the hell am I?! I'd use
all my energy to run away from this place, wherever I'm at...
I don't care...
I wanna go home. I wanna go home!!
Breathing heavily now... I think I'm ready
to start crying again...
God damn...
Someone's coming?
maybe they have food
Will you SHUT up?!
I look up, the door starting to crack open
with... either someone talking to herself or they have identical voices.
"..don't understand. It's like a blatent violation
of our gene. I mean, who'd think that, out of all people--"
"Sixteen, sush, I think he's awake!"
Hit the panic button. ...Thank you.
"Who's there?!" I call out, my voice cracking.
Oh, yeah. That sounded demanding...
I'm such a mess right now...
....
Okayyyy... thee identical pink-haired woman
in nurse outfits... Now THIS is getting screwed up. And no, I don't
think they have food, you yutz.
yutz? what kind of insult is that
At my shout, they stepped back a bit. One
of them, having slightly larger eyes than the other two, had a badge on
reading the number "16" on it. I'm assuming that there a lot of these girls
with a number on all three of them...
That's REALLY creepy when I think about it.
Number "7" steps forward to me, making me
back up a bit on the bed. "Hush, it's okay. We're nurses. We're here to
help."
Yeah right. Help. After all that shit, my
trust is kinda broken up about people at this point.
"16" stares at me for a bit, causing me to
stare right back at her. Finally, she says, "...Nice pants." 19 slaps her
forehead at this and 7 glances at 16 in annoyance.
"What do you want?" I ask, my heart starting
to race. Yeah. Three people looking exactly alike in front of me. THAT'LL
calm me down. Whoever's ruling this place really is a nutso. "Where the
hell am I??" I quickly (yeah, okay, shut up) glance at the door. I could
probably spring out if they try anything.
7 looks back at me for a moment, looking like
she completely forgot the comment made on my boxers. Well, I used to think
they were pretty snazzy, having cartoonish lightning bolts and everything.
Kind of wish I took my Looney Tunes pair now.
"It's okay, Mr... umm..." She pauses, then
looks to 19. "...Did we get a name on this one?" 7 asks. I can kind of
expect them NOT to recognize me since I threw off the costume. But then,
it's on the floor, so it'd be kind of a dead give away.
19 shrugs lightly at the question. "Didn't
have time. Mousse-san brought him in."
Okayyyy. What the hell kind of name is "Mousse",
anyway? I nearly burst out laughing at that one.
16 takes a step towards me, almost making
me back up again, but I really don't have anywhere to back up to, being
already on the bed. "We may look really freaky, but, really, we don't mean
any harm." Oh, THAT'S encouraging! "Some of our guys rescued you. You're
safe here."
"You expect me to just believe you?" I ask,
my voice shaking. Okay, you know, being surrounded by triplets is NOT comforting
after what I just went through. I'm supposed to believe I was saved from...
from THAT!!
Then I just remembered...
"Where're the others?" I demand, eyes
widening. Don't tell me I'm alone... oh God, not right now... "Where's
G.L.?!" That's the last of them that I can really remember right now...
He was just right here when I last woke up.
It's hard for me to remember, but... that's
all... Where the hell did Green Lantern go?
All three of them pause, probably in thought.
Oh, yeah. Duh. If they didn't know who I was, how could I expect them to
know G.L.?
16 looks back to the other two nurses (or
I'm assuming that's who they are). "...Um, I think he means the guy in
the black and green outfit." Yeah, that'd probably be him...
19 blinks once. "I'm pretty sure he went with
General Kunz somewhere." General Kunz? Who...? Well, I guess that's who
runs this place...
7 nods at that statement, looking back at
me. "The dark man in the black and green outfit is here, but I'm not sure
where he is at the moment." Man, what a let down... but at least he's all
right. I'm starting to feel better at that, at least, but I STILL don't
know where the hell I am.
The triplets look to the door, causing me
to glance that way. Okay, someone who looks more trustworthy 'cuz she doesn't
have an unnatural hair color. (Pink? Come on; they could do better) Long
black hair, and quite a looker at that.
does she have food?
Will you knock it off about the food?!
The black-haired girl stops, blinking once.
For a moment, she doesn't speak, then looks to me. "Oh! You're awake!"
"No. I'm sleeping with my eyes open," I remark,
kind of deadpan for my taste. "Who are you and would someone PLEASE tell
me what the hell is going on already?! Safe or not, I have no clue what's
going on!"
All four of them pause. Again. Arrrrgh, too
slowwww...
Then 16 laughs lightly. "You know, a year
ago, this entire situation would have been really strange to me."
7 glances to her, "16, shut up."
"Shutting up."
The black-haired girl just stands there, staring
at the two nurses with an amused expression. Then she turns back to me.
"You're in the base of the Resistance against Dr. Lasarius's forces. You
and another were rescued a few hours ago by a couple of our soldiers."
Okay, now I just have to stare at her. So
I do. "'Dr. Lasarius'? Is THAT the guy who took us down?" I mutter. Man...
these guys are really something if they managed to take all of us down...
"New question. Can I have some clothes?" I
ask. "And something to eat?"
yay food
Yeah. You happy?
16 smiles mischiviously for a brief moment
before she said, "Oh, but you look so CUTE in those pants." I grin myself;
well, duh. Mr. Modest I'm totally not.
7 twitches once, closing her eyes as a look
of frustration appeared on her face. "Six-TEEN!"
"Okay, okay! Sheesh..."
Both 19 and the black-haired girl look at
them, amused. Well, it is kind of funny...
19 looks at the black-haired girl. "I'll go
get whatever they're serving in the cafeteria."
She nods, then looks back to me as 19 leaves.
"Would you like anything else? Fresh blankets, a game? ...Does anything
hurt?"
What I really just wanna do is go home...
but I guess considering, it wouldn't really help me by this point. I sigh.
"My head hurts. A lot. Got painkillers?"
The black-haired girl frowns slightly. "Is
the cause a wound or is it a normal headache?" Well, gee. A bitchy psychic
invaded my head and twisted my world all around...
She glances to 7 and 16 with a blink. 7 seems
to be whispering something angrily to 16, who's looking annoyed. The black-haired
girl laughs nervously, looking back to me.
"Well... things may seem a little strange,
but you'll get used to it soon."
"Nah. I get the feeling I'll fit right in,"
I grumble. "Can I have painkillers or what?"
food?
It ain't here yet, ya idiot.
aw i'm hungry
Ditto. Wayyy ditto. I doubt they'll bring
enough, either.
this sucks
Very much...
The black-haired girl chuckles a little, which
somehow makes me grin. She looks pretty cute when she laughs.
"Sooo..." I begin. "What's your name?" Hey,
can't keep calling her the 'black-haired girl', can I?
After the question, the door opens yet again
with 19 coming in with--
food! yayyyy
Yes. Food. A couple of chicken legs, large
cup of cola-slushie (aw, man; time for a major brain freeze), and a baked
potato. That ain't gonna be enough to hold me, darn it. They may as well
just drag me to this cafeteria.
16, 7 and the dark-haired girl all stare at
the food. "Chicken legs?" 16 asks.
19 shrugs. "Lina-san was at the cafeteria."
"Ahhh," 16 nods.
"Man, don't tell me this is all you have,"
I sigh. This isn't gonna take long to finish...
And, well, it doesn't. Like I thought, a major
brain freeze is gonna come, but... eh, I'm used to it. Not surprising.
no more?
No more. Man, I hope I get enough of a brain
freeze to kill ya.
yer so mean
As expected, the four stare at me as I finished
the plate at reasonable speed for me; for the regular human eye, I guess
you'd be wondering how I didn't inhale the chicken bones.
19 actually gapes. ...Cool. "...Oh my God.
I think we have another Lina Inverse." Okay, I get the implication that
this "Lina" eats as much as I do, which says a lot. Can I help it if I
have a hyper-accelerated metabolism?
7 lets out a short laugh at that, and the
black-haired girl also chuckles lightly before looking at me with a smile,
"I'm Sylphiel. Sylphiel Nels Lahda."
"Nice name," I comment. Never heard it before
in my life, but it's actually kinda nice. Sweetness! She's pretty cute.
Hmm... is there a 'Mr. Lahda'...?
19 takes out what looks pretty close to a
cell phone. "12? Whatever Lina ordered, bring in exactly the same to room
207A. ...Yes, exact quantity. ... Yes, I know."
7 and 16 just grin slightly at that.
"So, who's this Lina chick?" I ask, holding
up the empty cup to see if I can get a drop out. Man... way too hungry.
I dunno how long I've been locked up, but I haven't eaten SINCE!
this suuuucks foooood neeeed
That's been established, thanks.
Sylphiel sweats a little, laughing lightly.
"Lina-san is a friend of mine. She does eat quite a bit..."
16 laughs. "A bit? Once, I swear, she ate
an entire cow!"
7 chuckles. "Somehow, I don't doubt that.
Wish I had the girl's metabolism."
I grin. Hah! G.L. can't complain about just
me anymore!
Sylphiel chuckles along with the other two
girls, then smiles at me. Real nice smile; she seems to be real gentle.
"I'm afraid that I haven't heard your name yet..."
"Me? I'm the... er..." I stammer a little.
ALMOST called myself that name. Gods, let's not get into that now. "I'm
Wally. Wally West. Nice to meet you, Sylphiel."
I dash around the room for a moment, then
slide right next to Sylphiel, grinning. "So... what's a nice girl like
you doin' in a place like this anyway? I didn't think you'd be stuck here.
You seem pretty harmless to me." Definitely not a Hawkgirl.
They all blink at me, which ain't surprising,
again. 19, yet again, gapes at me. "Oh my God... we have a mix of Sonic
Hedgehog and Lina Inverse!"
16 grins at me, not quite as bothered about
my speed. "Famous last words, Mr. West."
Sylphiel giggles softly, smiling gently. "Oh,
Dr. Lasarius' forces are after my friends and I, as well. I'm a white mage."
I take a moment to blink, pointing at Sylphiel.
"White mage? You? Isn't that a Final Fantasy thingy where they..." I take
a moment. "...Um... you cast magic?" Well, okay, not totally surprising.
I mean, I know a few aliens, a city full of talking gorillas, an Amazon
princess, met Hades once... I can deal with that.
"Sweet. So, like... if I have an injury, you
can just wave your hands and heal it?" I ask, grinning. "Man, that's neat!"
Sylphiel blinks once (wow, they REALLY like to blink... but just
one of her many cute perks), then smiles a little, appearing somewhat nervous.
"Yes, I guess you can say it like that..."
16 grins widely again. "She can also cast
the second most powerful destructive spell in existance!" She pauses. "...Dude!"
Dude. She shouldn't pick on people with major
headaches and are starving half to death and don't have a CLUE what's going
on.
yeah dude
Shut up.
The other two stare at their identical person,
who seems to have a more humorous side to her. Eh, I think I can deal with
that.
"So, you're pretty important, huh?" I grin
at Sylphiel. "Should have expected that, actually. You look more than just
important, though." Oh, yeah. I think I can reel this one in!
Sylphiel blushes lightly. Booyah! "W-well,
thank you..." She pauses. "...I think..."
16 looks like she's gonna blow up into laughter.
Blah; shaddup.
"Not a problem. Maybe you can give me a tour
later, if you aren't busy," I request. Heh; she's even cuter when she blushes.
There's a knock at the door, and the voice
behind it has the same one as 16, 19, and 7. Damn... I get the feeling
there's over 20 of these girls! Are they clones or what?
Anyway, she says, "Food here!" A pause. "...A
LOT of food here!"
yeah!
Yeah!!
"Bring it all on," I grin, wriggling my fingers.
Oh, yeah. Food is bliss. Food is bliss...
good drink, good meat, good god, let's eat!
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Third-Person: Orion
With a curse, Orion ducked back around the
corner, just missing being clipped by a laser blast; he, and quite a few
of the others in the rescue-mission-turned-raiding-party, were already
injured. They hadn't had any luck in finding any of the three captured
by the soldiers, although they'd rescued enough people that, armed, they
were able to storm the blast doors at each section and keep the guards
from closing them.
Sharon was keeping to the back of the group,
as far from the two Klackons - the humanoid ants - as she could be without
being left behind by the group. The Klackons were each carrying heavy weapons,
stolen from an armory they'd broken into, and seemed to take an insane
joy in killing the soldiers that'd been tormenting them until now.
Rydia, dressed in a dead soldier's uniform,
slid up next to Orion, whsipering under her breath; a wind flared up, and
in the middle of the hall a thick mist gathered, gradually shaping into
a ghostly dragon. The blast of ice and wind that it spat out before vanishing
flattened the last guards in the hallway, leaving the group with a clear
avenue of escape to the door the group had snuck in through.
"All right... Kak, Kik, you two go ahead,
clear out any soldiers guarding the door on either side. We'll wait a minute
and follow. Everyone, be careful, they probably know we're headed here."
As Sharon slipped away down the hall towards
the door, Orion cringed, feeling the familiar 'tickle' of Michelle's telepathic
touch against the edge of his mind's barriers. Behind him, and close...
"Well... Who have we here? The escaped boy
with the mind block?" The familiar voice, young, sweet, and filled with
an undercurrent of hate, carried down the hall; Orion straightened and
turned, finding himself facing a squad of five soldiers with a pair of
prisoners - Kiyone, and a green-skinned humanoid - as well as Michelle.
Six to one. All of them armed with high-intensity
laser rifles, and him armed with a single stolen rifle at half power and
a warhammer.
"What do you want, psibitch?" The venom in
Orion's voice should've been enough to burn the paint off the walls; as
it was, the seething hatred managed to leak past his mind's barriers and
lash at Michelle - bringing a cruel smile to her face.
"Oh, nothing. Just to see where you think
you're going..."
"Away." Orion didn't waste a word past that
- arrogant in her power, Michelle continued to forget that she wasn't safe
from Orion, that she couldn't read his intent before he acted. The rifle
he carried crackled, spitting out a laser bolt that burned into the telepath's
shoulder, sending her to the ground with a cry of agony - and taking three
of the soldiers with her in an accidental telepathic lash. The other two
gave each other a look, and retreated - they'd fought him before, and knew
it wasn't worth the effort.
A few minutes later, he emerged from the door,
burdened by Kiyone over one shoulder, and the green-skinned humanoid over
the other. He hadn't bothered to kill Michelle - let her stay there, where
the ghosts could find her, still living, for them to assault.
"Come on, let's go back to the hideout..."
Donna's POV:
I was looking in the mirror in the fitting
room, donning a simple t-shirt and denim jeans. The t-shirt had the word
'Mazoku' on it in the same style as the 'Angel' t-shirts my sister wears
often. Though, instead of the usual t-shirt top, it had a Chinese mandarin
collar. A t-shirt, Chinese shirt hybrid. I found it rather cute, actually.
At any rate, I was in the fitting room, taking
a few minutes to simply forget everything. Forget the war, forget
that my sister was in a life or death situation, forget that I was a general.
Just to relax for all of twenty minutes. I'll have to thank Xelloss and
Martina later. Then, I heard a call from outside the fitting room.
"They're back! The rescue team is back!"
I ran out of the fitting room, leaving my
general uniform behind, tossing my currency card to Martina on the way
out.
I practically knocked down the door into the
room where mission teams meet back to report, getting all eyes on to me.
Everyone looked shooken up. Two giant ants,
my sister as far away from them as possible, new people in Lasarius uniform.
Cloud and Renamon were missing.
"What the hell happened?"
Orion looked up from where he was carefully
untying a makeshift bandage from around his arm. "A blast door seperated
the group. Kiyone, Renamon, and Cloud were captured. We managed to free
some of the 'favorites', and Michelle made the mistake of bringing Kiyone
along when she came to try stopping us. Renamon and Cloud... Are still
captive." He examined the blood staining the bandage, and sighed. Everyone
else looked quite embaressed. "After the group got split up, Sharon put
me in charge, because I knew the area."
I nodded, looking to my sister, walking towards
her. "That was a smart move, Sharon." ..And then I hugged her. She seemed
surprised at the hug, but then returned it. "I'm glad that you're all right,
sis. You don't know how worried I was."
The hug ended, and we smiled at each other.
We were always close siblings.
She then gaped, "What the heck are you wearing?"
I cracked a smile, but then looked back to
the others, serious again. Huh. They were all smiling slightly, too. "Someone
get the injured to the hospital. The rest of you, go to your quarters and
sleep for a while. You all deserve some R&R."
Kiyone and a green-skinned human I didn't
recognize (though the back of my mind tickled as if I should) were carried
off. The two giant ants, a young man, two young girls, a mog (who I doubletaked
at), and what I could swear was an Abominable Snowperson were left. Probably
rescued.
I stared at the ants. They stared back.
Letting out a slight sigh, "There's a clothing
store and an inn in the civilian area. Tell them General Kunz sent you,
and they should let you get clothing and stay at the inn until real homes
can be givin." Though, why we had an inn was beyond me..
They shared slightly confused glances, but
headed out.
I sat back in a chair in the now empty colleseum
meeting room, where Selenity usually holds her now famous meetings, letting
out a sigh. Two sets of footsteps came from out of my line of vision, one
light (human, probably) and one heavy, metallic.
Looking over, I was not too surprised to see
Rikku and Dinobot II. "..Please don't give me any more bad news."
Rikku frowned slightly, "I know you're upset
about what happened to Cloud-san and Renamon-san, but there's allready
an order out to go in to rescue them tomorrow."
Dinobot snarled, "The last thing we need is
a repeat of Hare's demise."
Rikku coughed, "But, if it means anything,
we won't have to worry about those Yeerk thingies that the Animorphs were
talking about!" She paused. "They were those mind controlling slugs, right?"
I sat up in my chair, blinking at her. "We
won't have to worry about them? Why?"
Rikku grinned, suddenly happy, "Koushiro-san
got some information while on that mission a couple hours ago. The Yeerk
things were moved to a different labor camp entirely. Lasarius probably
didn't want to give them any more power than he wants them to have."
I blinked twice, then nodded. "..This works
out for us, though."
Dinobot let out another snarl, frowning. "The
child with a connection to Renamon is in a coma."
Back into the chair I leaned, letting out
a groan. "This.. Is a nightmare."
Nevermore22's notes: ..And that's a wrap. Expect next chapter to be out in about a month or two. Yup, still going Round Robin. Hey, if any reader wants to offer suggestions or even join in on the Round Robin, just email me at acidcrazed@aol.com with 'Lasarius Chronicles' as the title. Otherwise, I'll delete it thinking it's junk. ^^;
Alba Aulbath Speak'th: I think I'm rather satisfied right now... and doesn't it just COMFORT you to know that things are probably going to get worse before they get better? *giggle-cackle-ribbits* ... Ignore that. Um... so, like... HTMLing this is kind of a bitch... but writing it is fun. So say'th me. Nya ha ha ha... there's a monkey in my trousers...