Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder, sparking an instinctive
reaction throughout her body. Quickly, she grabbed the hand and flipped the
person connecting to it forward onto their back. As she looked down at the
thing which she had attacked out of impulse, she found that she was looking
down at Krishna-yet not the Krishna she had seen moments before. This was
the Krishna that she remembered, the one in the lab coat, with the kindly
expression. "Doctor?" asked Mitsuko, wrinkling her forehead in puzzlement.
Krishna opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could leave his mouth, he vanished before her eyes. The only thing left of Krishna was his hand. It did not look as if it had been severed off-in fact, it looked as if it had always been detached from Krishna's body, as if his entire body as a whole had never existed. Disgusted, she dropped it onto the blackness of the ground. As it hit the ground, the hand seemed to hit water rather than ground, sinking into the blackness, leaving behind ripples, finally smoothing out. Unable to believe her eyes, she reached forward her hand and touched where the hand had been consumed. She only felt solid ground, smooth, but definitely not liquid.
"Phil?" she cried out, her head snapping around nervously. Her voice, however, seemed to stop directly in front of her, being sucked up by the air around her.
She received no reply but silence. Trying to make her way about the strange space, she felt herself bump directly into a wall, although she had been able to touch the space in front of her just moments before. Grunting at hitting her head on the wall, she felt around herself, only to discover that she seemed to be enclosed into some kind of box. Pushing hard against the sides, she found that even her body could not break the sides. Determined, she opened up her chest cavity to search for something that might be able to aid her in breaking the box.
Yet just as she began searching the crevices of her chest cavity, she found that the sides of the box were suddenly transparent, allowing her to see an entire world that was outside of the box. Blinking hard, she found it was no illusion-in front of her was a palace ballroom almost exactly resembling the one she had been in just instants before, complete with the fountain in the center. A slender figure, a faerie, hid behind this fountain, just barely visible, seeming to speak into something desperately, then pressing a button out of Mitsuko's sight. Hastily, the faerie took off, seeming to head straight for Mitsuko, her red eyes frantic. Behind her obediently trailed a blue Shoyru, having to struggle to keep up with the faerie.
"What's the hurry, Tahra?"
The faerie's head whipped around, seeming to shiver. (Understandable, considering her style of dress-a blue-and-red leotard with dark blue tights, her legs seeming to fade into nothing at her toes.) Emerging from behind the great throne came another faerie, this one with purple hair streaked with green, a green-and-purple dress clinging to her curves perfectly.
"Hmmm? What's that, Jhudora?" asked the first faerie, forcing a smile onto her face. Mitsuko found it hard to believe that this faerie was the Tahra that she had known-perhaps they merely shared the name?
"I said, what's the hurry, Tahra? You've been awfully hasty lately, skipping work, keeping to the shadows. . .and that Shoyru is certainly a new addition. I remember you not being entirely fond of Neopets. . .though you guarded them."
"Oh well. . .y'know, it gets lonely in space, sometimes," said Tahra quickly, sweat beginning to form on her forehead. "I figured that I may as well have a companion."
"But you already have one, don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Quit playing games, Tahra." With a speed rivaling that of a Uni at full gallop, Jhudora released a ball of black energy from her palm. The blue Shoyru leapt in front of Tahra, standing steadily in front of her. The ball made contact with the Shoyru's neck, splitting it in half, sending the head flying like a ball being kicked like a soccer player. No blood emerged from the wound-in fact, the body even stayed upright. No, the only thing coming from the head and the neck were wires, whipping into the air, as if searching for their endings.
"Rose!" cried Tahra, bending down to the robotic Shoyru body, looking so organic from the outside. Tahra looked up to Jhudora, her eyes narrowing. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"What Fyora assigned me to do, Miss Space Faerie. Do you take a monarch faerie for a fool? She'd been suspicious of you from the start- especially after Sloth so conveniently DIDN'T DIE after you send that flaming death beam back at him at point blank range, with little warning," snarled Jhudora, grabbing Tahra by the neck and pulling her into the air, her long, sharp nails digging into Tahra's tender flesh. Tahra gasped, trying to rip Jhudora's fingers off of her. "Admit it, Space Faerie, if only to me-you let him get away. You let him get away because you fell for him way back when he wasn't so bad."
"So? So what if I did?" gasped Tahra, squirming in Jhudora's grip, surprisingly strong. "He wasn't trying to kill anybody. . .he was just trying to-"
"Just trying to mutate and turn the entire population of Neopets absolutely hideous. It's unacceptable, Tahra. You've made a potential risk even larger by not eliminating it when possible. Now, just admit it, Tahra. I promise I won't tell anybody of your little romance. It's kind of cute, actually." Tahra looked down at Jhudora, who smiled venomously with her day- glo green lips. Swallowing, she nodded her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Yes. Yes, I do love Sloth. And I'll never let anybody touch him."
"Awww, ain't that cute," cooed Jhudora, and released Tahra, the Space Faerie falling to the ground, gripping at her throat. "He probably made you this little robot to, din't he? I sure don't know any faerie who's into mechanics."
"Yes," coughed Tahra, rubbing at her throat. "So. . .you won't tell?"
"Nah, I'd never break a promise, Miss Space Faerie. Heck, I'd even let it slide-it's just so adorable to see that the big heroine has a weakness," said Jhudora with a smile, holding out her hands innocently. "Unfortunately, I don't think Fyora's SWAT teams are all that willing."
In an instant, hundreds of fire faeries came out from hiding places, bearing the symbol of the monarch faeries. Each held a Sword of the Fire Faerie, glaring down at Tahra with merciless eyes, who looked up at them helplessly, her eyes growing large. They soon narrowed down to an appropriate size, however, as she glared back at Jhudora, seeming to increase in size with her anger. "You. . .you set me up!" she snarled, lunging at Jhudora. Her attack was short-lived, however, as the fire faeries bore down on her, expressing all the force that they had.
The box that enclosed Mitsuko instantly became opaque once again, engulfing her in blackness. Baffled, Mitsuko found that she could feel a vague déjà vu in the scene which had just unfolded before her. Even the entirely organic Tahra struck a chord of familiarity. Perhaps her memory had just been jogged. . .?
But she had no time to contemplate upon the memorable scene that had just happened before her-she found that the box encasing her had apparently dissolved, and she was able to move around in the darkness. Instantly, she began calling for Phil, again finding her voice seeming to not extend nearly far enough, almost coming back and hitting her ears, as if bouncing off an invisible sound wall. For a while she continued the futility of calling for Phil. Finally, after what seemed to Mitsuko to be hours of her relentless calling, she took a rest on the strange-feeling ground, seeming as if she had walked forever in the darkness of the cell.
As she rested in the darkness, something appeared in front of her, small, as if in the distance. Gazing forward, squinting her eyes hard and magnifying the image with a specialized program, she found, upon closer inspection, that it was most definitely Phil. An expression of relief and joy spreading across her face, she leapt to her feet and ignited her boosters, crying out his name.
Without warning, Phil was suddenly right in front of her, as if traveling at light speed to catch up with her. She reeled to a stop, narrowly missing crashing into Phil, stopping mere inches in front of him. Immediately, she threw her arms gratefully around him, hugging him tightly. "Phil! Phil. . .you're okay," she said with a sigh, letting her head rest on his shoulder, suddenly feeling undeniably weary. "Thank God, you're-"
She was cut off as Phil suddenly slugged her in the stomach, causing her to release him, jolting backwards. It merely surprised her, not necessarily hurt her. Phil's fist, however, had obviously taken damage from hitting metal so hard, his knuckles bleeding a bit. Mitsuko looked at him, perplexed by his behavior. As she looked at him closer, she discovered that his eyes looked a bit off-instead of being a bright and lively black, springing with life, they were instead dull and dark, hardly even suggesting that he had a personality.
"Phil?" she asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow. "Is everything okay? Are you still upset about the RBT?"
Phil did not answer her. Before she could react, he was upon her, sending her to the ground, landing on top of her fallen body, standing upon her chest. Looking down at her with blank eyes, he began to viciously attack the panel on her forehead, striking it again and again with his bare fists, only harming his flesh more, hardly hurting Mitsuko. Mitsuko grabbed him by the arm, stopping him temporarily from hitting her head.
"Phil, what do you think you're doing?!"
Again, she received no response. He stopped his assault on the panel on her forehead, pausing as he stood atop her, looking down at her apathetically. She stared up at him, forcing a smile onto her face, hoping that it would knock some sense into him. It only seemed to provoke him, as in an instant he suddenly wielded a golden crook out of nowhere, and slammed it down into the space connecting her head to her body, beginning to force it apart as well as strangle her. Despite being a robot, the organic side of her brain needed oxygen to function, and without it she would be rendered inactive, possibly destroyed.
Mitsuko could only stare up at Phil, not comprehending, exactly, what was happening. Was this really Phil before her, attempting to destroy her? It seemed impossible-the Phil she knew was compassionate, and probably wouldn't try to kill anybody even if they had offended him. Yet she had done nothing to harm him, (save for perhaps entering the RBT) and she had believed that they were, perhaps, something more than friends, though she couldn't quite define what their relationship had been. It hurt her inside- not a physical hurt, but one of emotions, an agonizing feeling rooting deep within her organs. It felt almost as if she were rotting, gradually, starting from her stomach and spreading throughout her body. If she had a gag reflex and any food in her artificial stomach, she was sure that she would've vomited. Yes, she remembered this feeling-it was the same way she had felt, albeit more intense, that night in the kitchen where Phil had walked away.
"Why. . .?" she asked him, looking up at him helplessly. She could quite easily push him off, pin him to the ground and bring justice to his body. But at the same time, she couldn't; it was Phil, after all, the Phil who had given her some kind of extraordinary feeling, the Phil who had saved her from collapsing and never being found again within the remains of RARE. She couldn't strike out at someone who she had seen as a beloved friend, the only person she felt she could truly open up to. The backs of her eyes seemed to sting, as if they were being marauded by acid. Thick oil began to trickle from her eye, rolling down her cheeks, Mitsuko unsure of what, exactly, was happening to her.
Phil did not respond to her pleas to stop. He only pressed on harder, Mitsuko searching his eyes through blurred vision, as if seeking out the answer within them. She could only see the dull darkness, however, so atypical, so wrong. It was almost as if. . .he wasn't Phil at all.
"Not Phil at all. . .?" she murmured to herself, the suggestion alighting in her brain. She once again made eye contact with him as he stared down at her blankly. No, it certainly was him, or at least appeared exactly like him-but his eyes were off. Everything was perfect, save for his soulless eyes, was definitely Phil. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, she felt anger sidle up to the despair inside of her, clenching her teeth and her fists. "How dare you steal his body. . ." she began, snarling like a wild animal, ". . .you wretched fiend!"
She lunged forward, the crook dislodging from its position within her neck, snapping and falling into two pieces at her side. She thrust forward her fingers deep into Phil's eyes, ripping at them wildly. What she felt was not flesh, or eyeballs falling apart within her hands-it was as if she were touching a thick goo, oozing through her fingers and down Phil's face, beginning to slide up her body. The goo lurched upwards, forming itself into hands, horrible, clawed hands, careening into the air. The two hands plunged down at her, but Mitsuko dodged, falling to the side.
Desperately, she reached into the space around her, seeking a weapon. Her hands fell upon a cold hilt of metal, and she gripped down, swinging forward whatever she had found. Much to her surprise and relief, she found that it was the sword of the Battle Faerie. With a great slash, she cut clear through the shadow hands. They seemed to scream, writhe in the air, and then fall to the ground, merging with the ground. Another set came behind Mitsuko unexpectedly, but thankfully, her reaction time was fast- soon those were demolished as well, finding the same fate as the other pair. Phil, on the other hand, seemed to sway for a moment, and then fell forward. As he hit the ground, he dissolved just as Krishna had, vanishing without a trace.
The blackness evaporated suddenly, leaving Mitsuko in a regular stone cell, dark and filled with rotten straw. In the darkest part of the room reluctantly lurked two ghoulish figures, appearing as twin Grim Reapers minus the sickles. They both lacked hands, seeming to slowly try and reformulate them. Against the wall leaned an unconscious Phil, looking worn and beaten, bruises scattered through his body. Giving a sharp glare towards the specters in the corner, she rushed towards Phil, slapping him on the cheeks, trying to wake him up, calling his name. The Desert Shoyru gradually opened his eyes, blinking hard.
"Suko. . .?"
"Phil," she said with a sigh, leaning backwards, suddenly feeling the strain of exhaustion. Phil blinked again, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles which were bright red, bloodshot.
"I can't remember much. . .I just. . .remember began dragged off the RBT battlefield by some faeries and then thrown into some dark place. . .I can remember. . .ugh, I can hardly remember anything," he mumbled, cradling his head in his hands.
"We don't have time to waste. We have to get out of here, before those things," said Mitsuko, motioning to the specters in the corner, "strike again-not to mention the fact that an insane cyborg is after me." Mitsuko reached down and grabbed Phil, dragging him to his feet, beginning to pull him out the door. Phil stopped her, though, touching the side of her face. Mitsuko jerked to a halt, shocked, watching Phil look at the black liquid that he had drawn onto his fingers from the streaks coming from her eyes.
". . .are you. . .?" he began, looking concerned, his eyes again filled with life. Mitsuko turned away briskly, pulling at Phil's arm.
"Never mind," she replied dismissively. "We have to go. Now."
Phil responded this time, following after Mitsuko, who took to the air, rushing down the corridor of the cages, a gasp coming from the Neopets and assorted other organisms in the cages. Their escape from The Cell, however, was short-lived, as just as they began their ascension up the stairs, Mitsuko picking up Krishna, who was still lying blank-faced on the ground, the stairway seemed to shake, a bright flash of light illuminating the usually dark corners of the stairway.
"You think you can just run away like that, Rose?! I'm your owner!"
The cyborg Tahra shot down the stairs, ramming into Mitsuko. She was traveling at an astonishing speed, causing Mitsuko to drop Krishna to the ground, being sent flying all the way back into the Cell's open doors. She even dented the wall with the force that she hit it, slowly falling to the ground, feeling her programming spin from the force of the tackle.
"What do you think you're doing?!" demanded Phil, grabbing a discarded piece of metal from the ground, holding it up as a weapon. Tahra gave a glance towards the Desert Shoyru and snorted indignantly. Holding one hand forward, she sent him through the prison bars with an invisible force radiated from her palm and into a cell alongside the Elephante that had advised Mitsuko against entering the Cell, knocking him unconscious once again.
"Shut up, little Shoyru. This isn't your problem."
Mitsuko struggled to her feet, trying to keep her balance best as she could, her vision swimming before her, glitching, images dancing before her eyes. She could see Tahra, however, or at least clips of her, coming closer. Discovering that the sword of the Battle Faerie was directly on the floor next to her, she picked it up, holding it forward, standing her ground. Tahra gave a laugh, coming right up to Mitsuko, not a shred of fear in her eyes. "You think that the blade of the Battle Faerie will defeat me?" she asked, amused.
"It's worth a shot," hissed Mitsuko grimly, and slipped beneath Tahra's legs suddenly, shooting upwards and stabbing at the back of Tahra's torso, aiming to impale her. She failed, however, Tahra seeming to anticipate her move, shifting the direction she faced instantly, catching the blade in her hand. The sharp end cut deep into her vulnerable flesh, drawing blood, but Tahra hardly seemed to notice, her expression not faltering in the slightest.
"Bad move, Rose."
With a movement of her wrist, she bent the blade into a u-shape with little effort. The blade seemed to creak, and then snapped clear in half, the tip falling to the ground, covered in Tahra's blood. Tahra held up her injured hand. Before Mitsuko's eyes, the flesh healed, the two sides of the cut merging together, nothing left of it but a small scar and a few specks of blood. Mitsuko stared, unable to believe her eyes.
"Give up now, Rose. I don't desire to ruin presents of mine. Besides, you'd prove very useful to me," smirked Tahra, holding her arms akimbo.
Mitsuko swallowed, looking up to Tahra. She could hardly see the woman that she had seen in the vision in the darkness, though her basic outline was apparent. Perhaps the red eye was an indication, and the blue hair-but the metal on her body ruined the image that Mitsuko had stored in her mind. She wondered how Tahra had come about to the fate of being half faerie, half metal-and since she was cornered at the time being, she felt that she may as well ask what was on her mind.
"What happened?" Tahra's face screwed into one of confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean. . .what happened, to make you. . .half machine? I heard you blaming Dr. Sloth. . .if I really am your robot, then why don't you tell me?"
Krishna opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could leave his mouth, he vanished before her eyes. The only thing left of Krishna was his hand. It did not look as if it had been severed off-in fact, it looked as if it had always been detached from Krishna's body, as if his entire body as a whole had never existed. Disgusted, she dropped it onto the blackness of the ground. As it hit the ground, the hand seemed to hit water rather than ground, sinking into the blackness, leaving behind ripples, finally smoothing out. Unable to believe her eyes, she reached forward her hand and touched where the hand had been consumed. She only felt solid ground, smooth, but definitely not liquid.
"Phil?" she cried out, her head snapping around nervously. Her voice, however, seemed to stop directly in front of her, being sucked up by the air around her.
She received no reply but silence. Trying to make her way about the strange space, she felt herself bump directly into a wall, although she had been able to touch the space in front of her just moments before. Grunting at hitting her head on the wall, she felt around herself, only to discover that she seemed to be enclosed into some kind of box. Pushing hard against the sides, she found that even her body could not break the sides. Determined, she opened up her chest cavity to search for something that might be able to aid her in breaking the box.
Yet just as she began searching the crevices of her chest cavity, she found that the sides of the box were suddenly transparent, allowing her to see an entire world that was outside of the box. Blinking hard, she found it was no illusion-in front of her was a palace ballroom almost exactly resembling the one she had been in just instants before, complete with the fountain in the center. A slender figure, a faerie, hid behind this fountain, just barely visible, seeming to speak into something desperately, then pressing a button out of Mitsuko's sight. Hastily, the faerie took off, seeming to head straight for Mitsuko, her red eyes frantic. Behind her obediently trailed a blue Shoyru, having to struggle to keep up with the faerie.
"What's the hurry, Tahra?"
The faerie's head whipped around, seeming to shiver. (Understandable, considering her style of dress-a blue-and-red leotard with dark blue tights, her legs seeming to fade into nothing at her toes.) Emerging from behind the great throne came another faerie, this one with purple hair streaked with green, a green-and-purple dress clinging to her curves perfectly.
"Hmmm? What's that, Jhudora?" asked the first faerie, forcing a smile onto her face. Mitsuko found it hard to believe that this faerie was the Tahra that she had known-perhaps they merely shared the name?
"I said, what's the hurry, Tahra? You've been awfully hasty lately, skipping work, keeping to the shadows. . .and that Shoyru is certainly a new addition. I remember you not being entirely fond of Neopets. . .though you guarded them."
"Oh well. . .y'know, it gets lonely in space, sometimes," said Tahra quickly, sweat beginning to form on her forehead. "I figured that I may as well have a companion."
"But you already have one, don't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Quit playing games, Tahra." With a speed rivaling that of a Uni at full gallop, Jhudora released a ball of black energy from her palm. The blue Shoyru leapt in front of Tahra, standing steadily in front of her. The ball made contact with the Shoyru's neck, splitting it in half, sending the head flying like a ball being kicked like a soccer player. No blood emerged from the wound-in fact, the body even stayed upright. No, the only thing coming from the head and the neck were wires, whipping into the air, as if searching for their endings.
"Rose!" cried Tahra, bending down to the robotic Shoyru body, looking so organic from the outside. Tahra looked up to Jhudora, her eyes narrowing. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"What Fyora assigned me to do, Miss Space Faerie. Do you take a monarch faerie for a fool? She'd been suspicious of you from the start- especially after Sloth so conveniently DIDN'T DIE after you send that flaming death beam back at him at point blank range, with little warning," snarled Jhudora, grabbing Tahra by the neck and pulling her into the air, her long, sharp nails digging into Tahra's tender flesh. Tahra gasped, trying to rip Jhudora's fingers off of her. "Admit it, Space Faerie, if only to me-you let him get away. You let him get away because you fell for him way back when he wasn't so bad."
"So? So what if I did?" gasped Tahra, squirming in Jhudora's grip, surprisingly strong. "He wasn't trying to kill anybody. . .he was just trying to-"
"Just trying to mutate and turn the entire population of Neopets absolutely hideous. It's unacceptable, Tahra. You've made a potential risk even larger by not eliminating it when possible. Now, just admit it, Tahra. I promise I won't tell anybody of your little romance. It's kind of cute, actually." Tahra looked down at Jhudora, who smiled venomously with her day- glo green lips. Swallowing, she nodded her head, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Yes. Yes, I do love Sloth. And I'll never let anybody touch him."
"Awww, ain't that cute," cooed Jhudora, and released Tahra, the Space Faerie falling to the ground, gripping at her throat. "He probably made you this little robot to, din't he? I sure don't know any faerie who's into mechanics."
"Yes," coughed Tahra, rubbing at her throat. "So. . .you won't tell?"
"Nah, I'd never break a promise, Miss Space Faerie. Heck, I'd even let it slide-it's just so adorable to see that the big heroine has a weakness," said Jhudora with a smile, holding out her hands innocently. "Unfortunately, I don't think Fyora's SWAT teams are all that willing."
In an instant, hundreds of fire faeries came out from hiding places, bearing the symbol of the monarch faeries. Each held a Sword of the Fire Faerie, glaring down at Tahra with merciless eyes, who looked up at them helplessly, her eyes growing large. They soon narrowed down to an appropriate size, however, as she glared back at Jhudora, seeming to increase in size with her anger. "You. . .you set me up!" she snarled, lunging at Jhudora. Her attack was short-lived, however, as the fire faeries bore down on her, expressing all the force that they had.
The box that enclosed Mitsuko instantly became opaque once again, engulfing her in blackness. Baffled, Mitsuko found that she could feel a vague déjà vu in the scene which had just unfolded before her. Even the entirely organic Tahra struck a chord of familiarity. Perhaps her memory had just been jogged. . .?
But she had no time to contemplate upon the memorable scene that had just happened before her-she found that the box encasing her had apparently dissolved, and she was able to move around in the darkness. Instantly, she began calling for Phil, again finding her voice seeming to not extend nearly far enough, almost coming back and hitting her ears, as if bouncing off an invisible sound wall. For a while she continued the futility of calling for Phil. Finally, after what seemed to Mitsuko to be hours of her relentless calling, she took a rest on the strange-feeling ground, seeming as if she had walked forever in the darkness of the cell.
As she rested in the darkness, something appeared in front of her, small, as if in the distance. Gazing forward, squinting her eyes hard and magnifying the image with a specialized program, she found, upon closer inspection, that it was most definitely Phil. An expression of relief and joy spreading across her face, she leapt to her feet and ignited her boosters, crying out his name.
Without warning, Phil was suddenly right in front of her, as if traveling at light speed to catch up with her. She reeled to a stop, narrowly missing crashing into Phil, stopping mere inches in front of him. Immediately, she threw her arms gratefully around him, hugging him tightly. "Phil! Phil. . .you're okay," she said with a sigh, letting her head rest on his shoulder, suddenly feeling undeniably weary. "Thank God, you're-"
She was cut off as Phil suddenly slugged her in the stomach, causing her to release him, jolting backwards. It merely surprised her, not necessarily hurt her. Phil's fist, however, had obviously taken damage from hitting metal so hard, his knuckles bleeding a bit. Mitsuko looked at him, perplexed by his behavior. As she looked at him closer, she discovered that his eyes looked a bit off-instead of being a bright and lively black, springing with life, they were instead dull and dark, hardly even suggesting that he had a personality.
"Phil?" she asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow. "Is everything okay? Are you still upset about the RBT?"
Phil did not answer her. Before she could react, he was upon her, sending her to the ground, landing on top of her fallen body, standing upon her chest. Looking down at her with blank eyes, he began to viciously attack the panel on her forehead, striking it again and again with his bare fists, only harming his flesh more, hardly hurting Mitsuko. Mitsuko grabbed him by the arm, stopping him temporarily from hitting her head.
"Phil, what do you think you're doing?!"
Again, she received no response. He stopped his assault on the panel on her forehead, pausing as he stood atop her, looking down at her apathetically. She stared up at him, forcing a smile onto her face, hoping that it would knock some sense into him. It only seemed to provoke him, as in an instant he suddenly wielded a golden crook out of nowhere, and slammed it down into the space connecting her head to her body, beginning to force it apart as well as strangle her. Despite being a robot, the organic side of her brain needed oxygen to function, and without it she would be rendered inactive, possibly destroyed.
Mitsuko could only stare up at Phil, not comprehending, exactly, what was happening. Was this really Phil before her, attempting to destroy her? It seemed impossible-the Phil she knew was compassionate, and probably wouldn't try to kill anybody even if they had offended him. Yet she had done nothing to harm him, (save for perhaps entering the RBT) and she had believed that they were, perhaps, something more than friends, though she couldn't quite define what their relationship had been. It hurt her inside- not a physical hurt, but one of emotions, an agonizing feeling rooting deep within her organs. It felt almost as if she were rotting, gradually, starting from her stomach and spreading throughout her body. If she had a gag reflex and any food in her artificial stomach, she was sure that she would've vomited. Yes, she remembered this feeling-it was the same way she had felt, albeit more intense, that night in the kitchen where Phil had walked away.
"Why. . .?" she asked him, looking up at him helplessly. She could quite easily push him off, pin him to the ground and bring justice to his body. But at the same time, she couldn't; it was Phil, after all, the Phil who had given her some kind of extraordinary feeling, the Phil who had saved her from collapsing and never being found again within the remains of RARE. She couldn't strike out at someone who she had seen as a beloved friend, the only person she felt she could truly open up to. The backs of her eyes seemed to sting, as if they were being marauded by acid. Thick oil began to trickle from her eye, rolling down her cheeks, Mitsuko unsure of what, exactly, was happening to her.
Phil did not respond to her pleas to stop. He only pressed on harder, Mitsuko searching his eyes through blurred vision, as if seeking out the answer within them. She could only see the dull darkness, however, so atypical, so wrong. It was almost as if. . .he wasn't Phil at all.
"Not Phil at all. . .?" she murmured to herself, the suggestion alighting in her brain. She once again made eye contact with him as he stared down at her blankly. No, it certainly was him, or at least appeared exactly like him-but his eyes were off. Everything was perfect, save for his soulless eyes, was definitely Phil. Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, she felt anger sidle up to the despair inside of her, clenching her teeth and her fists. "How dare you steal his body. . ." she began, snarling like a wild animal, ". . .you wretched fiend!"
She lunged forward, the crook dislodging from its position within her neck, snapping and falling into two pieces at her side. She thrust forward her fingers deep into Phil's eyes, ripping at them wildly. What she felt was not flesh, or eyeballs falling apart within her hands-it was as if she were touching a thick goo, oozing through her fingers and down Phil's face, beginning to slide up her body. The goo lurched upwards, forming itself into hands, horrible, clawed hands, careening into the air. The two hands plunged down at her, but Mitsuko dodged, falling to the side.
Desperately, she reached into the space around her, seeking a weapon. Her hands fell upon a cold hilt of metal, and she gripped down, swinging forward whatever she had found. Much to her surprise and relief, she found that it was the sword of the Battle Faerie. With a great slash, she cut clear through the shadow hands. They seemed to scream, writhe in the air, and then fall to the ground, merging with the ground. Another set came behind Mitsuko unexpectedly, but thankfully, her reaction time was fast- soon those were demolished as well, finding the same fate as the other pair. Phil, on the other hand, seemed to sway for a moment, and then fell forward. As he hit the ground, he dissolved just as Krishna had, vanishing without a trace.
The blackness evaporated suddenly, leaving Mitsuko in a regular stone cell, dark and filled with rotten straw. In the darkest part of the room reluctantly lurked two ghoulish figures, appearing as twin Grim Reapers minus the sickles. They both lacked hands, seeming to slowly try and reformulate them. Against the wall leaned an unconscious Phil, looking worn and beaten, bruises scattered through his body. Giving a sharp glare towards the specters in the corner, she rushed towards Phil, slapping him on the cheeks, trying to wake him up, calling his name. The Desert Shoyru gradually opened his eyes, blinking hard.
"Suko. . .?"
"Phil," she said with a sigh, leaning backwards, suddenly feeling the strain of exhaustion. Phil blinked again, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles which were bright red, bloodshot.
"I can't remember much. . .I just. . .remember began dragged off the RBT battlefield by some faeries and then thrown into some dark place. . .I can remember. . .ugh, I can hardly remember anything," he mumbled, cradling his head in his hands.
"We don't have time to waste. We have to get out of here, before those things," said Mitsuko, motioning to the specters in the corner, "strike again-not to mention the fact that an insane cyborg is after me." Mitsuko reached down and grabbed Phil, dragging him to his feet, beginning to pull him out the door. Phil stopped her, though, touching the side of her face. Mitsuko jerked to a halt, shocked, watching Phil look at the black liquid that he had drawn onto his fingers from the streaks coming from her eyes.
". . .are you. . .?" he began, looking concerned, his eyes again filled with life. Mitsuko turned away briskly, pulling at Phil's arm.
"Never mind," she replied dismissively. "We have to go. Now."
Phil responded this time, following after Mitsuko, who took to the air, rushing down the corridor of the cages, a gasp coming from the Neopets and assorted other organisms in the cages. Their escape from The Cell, however, was short-lived, as just as they began their ascension up the stairs, Mitsuko picking up Krishna, who was still lying blank-faced on the ground, the stairway seemed to shake, a bright flash of light illuminating the usually dark corners of the stairway.
"You think you can just run away like that, Rose?! I'm your owner!"
The cyborg Tahra shot down the stairs, ramming into Mitsuko. She was traveling at an astonishing speed, causing Mitsuko to drop Krishna to the ground, being sent flying all the way back into the Cell's open doors. She even dented the wall with the force that she hit it, slowly falling to the ground, feeling her programming spin from the force of the tackle.
"What do you think you're doing?!" demanded Phil, grabbing a discarded piece of metal from the ground, holding it up as a weapon. Tahra gave a glance towards the Desert Shoyru and snorted indignantly. Holding one hand forward, she sent him through the prison bars with an invisible force radiated from her palm and into a cell alongside the Elephante that had advised Mitsuko against entering the Cell, knocking him unconscious once again.
"Shut up, little Shoyru. This isn't your problem."
Mitsuko struggled to her feet, trying to keep her balance best as she could, her vision swimming before her, glitching, images dancing before her eyes. She could see Tahra, however, or at least clips of her, coming closer. Discovering that the sword of the Battle Faerie was directly on the floor next to her, she picked it up, holding it forward, standing her ground. Tahra gave a laugh, coming right up to Mitsuko, not a shred of fear in her eyes. "You think that the blade of the Battle Faerie will defeat me?" she asked, amused.
"It's worth a shot," hissed Mitsuko grimly, and slipped beneath Tahra's legs suddenly, shooting upwards and stabbing at the back of Tahra's torso, aiming to impale her. She failed, however, Tahra seeming to anticipate her move, shifting the direction she faced instantly, catching the blade in her hand. The sharp end cut deep into her vulnerable flesh, drawing blood, but Tahra hardly seemed to notice, her expression not faltering in the slightest.
"Bad move, Rose."
With a movement of her wrist, she bent the blade into a u-shape with little effort. The blade seemed to creak, and then snapped clear in half, the tip falling to the ground, covered in Tahra's blood. Tahra held up her injured hand. Before Mitsuko's eyes, the flesh healed, the two sides of the cut merging together, nothing left of it but a small scar and a few specks of blood. Mitsuko stared, unable to believe her eyes.
"Give up now, Rose. I don't desire to ruin presents of mine. Besides, you'd prove very useful to me," smirked Tahra, holding her arms akimbo.
Mitsuko swallowed, looking up to Tahra. She could hardly see the woman that she had seen in the vision in the darkness, though her basic outline was apparent. Perhaps the red eye was an indication, and the blue hair-but the metal on her body ruined the image that Mitsuko had stored in her mind. She wondered how Tahra had come about to the fate of being half faerie, half metal-and since she was cornered at the time being, she felt that she may as well ask what was on her mind.
"What happened?" Tahra's face screwed into one of confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean. . .what happened, to make you. . .half machine? I heard you blaming Dr. Sloth. . .if I really am your robot, then why don't you tell me?"