Christian began swearing internal, "What the hell's going on?"
"You know..." Danius started, calmly wiping his hands of the dry blood that'd built up on them, "...in spite of all my powers, I don't have the ability to return home. Though, that little oversight will be cleared up shortly. In any case, if I were to guess... then yes, I'd have to say I'd be pretty giddy to be back home.
"That so?" Chris returned, the words nearly stopped in his throat from anxiety. "Why am I so nervous? What's wrong with me?"
Walking up to the throne both Marcus and Christian had abandoned, Danius took it upon himself and have a seat, crossing one leg over the other and folding both his hands neatly over his bended knee, "Let me tell you a story. ...eh, have a seat."
A loud grunt escaped Christian's lips as unseen forces threw his body to the ground and turned him to face the story-teller. "...have you ever wondered why you're here? Why humans exist on a planet inhabited primarily by these... 'Zoids' of yours?"
"The thought crossed my mind a couple times... but, it's all ancient history, what does it matter?"
"Heh. Said the man who couldn't get over the fact that his father merrily slaughtered billions."
"Hey Danius? Bite me!"
"...maybe later..." His pale face was beaming with excitement, reclining back in the overly large seat; Danius stared absent-mindedly up at the ceiling as he so often did. "You've already learned of Earth, and that I'm one of its inhabitants... shouldn't come as a shock, since that's where you're from as well. Not you specifically, but, humans as a whole.
Christian sat silently, staring down at the floor... finding it the best he could do, still unable to move under his own power.
"Earth used to be a lot like Zi. On the brink of collapse, plagued by continuous war and fighting. A solution to the problems that faced the planet had to be found, lest the human race would drive itself to extinction. Eventually, a group exclaimed, 'Why don't we just get rid of those doing all the fighting?' Sounds like a reason a mother would give to her ignorant children, doesn't it?"
"..."
"Would you believe me if I told you it worked?"
"..."
"Yeah, I don't get it either. I won't bore you with the details, but all those humans naturally more prone to violence were gathered up and disposed of. Where, you might ask?"
Answering his own question, Danius pounded his knuckles against the throne's arm rest. "I'd say that was about... two-three thousand years ago? I dunno... eventually we all just stopped caring how long it'd been, there were better things to do with our time than ponder over the existence of some celestial trash. Violence and aggression removed from their societies, humanity concentrated on pulling Earth back from the brink as well as bettering himself as a living creature. The full potential of the human mind, that had eluded scientists for centuries was finally be discovered and utilized. Long story short, it was a Utopia. Evolution isn't some crack- pot theory, it's possible. One just has to cut the fat from the meat."
"Truly happy for ya, Danius." Christian spat back.
"Of course... so long as man exists, he shall continue to be an imperfect creature and there will always be flaws in even the most basic of systems. Although the hot-spots of aggression had been wiped from man's consciousness, a small bit still lingered... intrinsic in all humans, erasing it is a fool's dream. Every now and again, someone got too rowdy. Medication and therapy usually solved the problem... and the gravest of cases typically resulted in termination. But, as I said... no system is perfect."
"Is this story going to lead somewhere?"
"...where I'm from, I'm considered something of a degenerate; a creature who shouldn't exist in this world. Of course, they only say that out of fear; fear of something greater than they. I must say I was quite a precocious little paradox, containing me was... Heh, well... impossible and, as you're already aware, I can't be killed. After they got tired of me mauling everyone, they figured their all-purpose contingency plan worked once, it could work again. They lifted up the cover of a thousand years old can of garbage and threw me right in.... hoping that, like the rest of you, I would never re-surface."
"So I landed on this worthless rock, surrounded by inferior humans. God, it was just like I heard in stories growing up... all you do day in and day out is harm each other, bleed into each other; not even knowing why... guided by some intangible lust to end another's existence. For the first couple years, my mind was ravaged by depression. I'd rather die than stay here, I told myself but as we already covered, that wasn't an option... I needed a way out. Then, I met you."
"The fabled son of Vega Obscura, the man who slaughtered billions and destroyed half the planet. It was if all those pitiful souls he took gathered themselves into a single, wonderful being... you. You are the greatest this cesspool of humanity has, and ever will have to offer. You, Christian, are my ticket out of here. I would've pulled this all together sooner, if it hadn't been for that demandable Black Organoid implanting that kid's memories into your head. I had to cleanse you of that mental infection before I could move forward... I'd say that was about six months ago."
"Six months ago..." Chris thought under closed eyes, the last night he was ever truly himself.
"Your sibling, Melissa sure did make that whole ordeal quite interesting. Christian my boy... you railed your sister for hours on end and reveled in it. That's pretty sick, even for me."
Christian threw his head back and erupted in a fit of laughter as he recounted that night's events in his head.
"...and they say I'm twisted."
Trinity - Where This World Ends and the Next Begins....
"So, how am I supposed to lead you back to Earth? I've never even been there before." Christian asked, finally joining the conversation. ...the feeling slowly returning to his body.
"I'll be frank. I'm going to take your being into me, taking your skills, your mental powers, everything, into my being and through that fusion I will have the power to then return home."
"Sounds like fun..." Chris answered back, noticeably less than enthused.
"As much of a raving lunatic as I am, I do respect a human's will to preserve its own existence. It is out of that generosity that I'll allow you to try and stop me. If you succeed, then the story ends here and you'll be free to do whatever pleases your peon little brain for the rest of your days. If you fail... well..." Danius' trademark grin enlarged ten fold as the hue of his eyes and hair slowly inter-twined and traded places.
"That... can't be good." Christian shamelessly admitted to himself, returning to his feet as quickly as his worn body would permit.
"...then at least take solace in the fact that you'll be part of something greater."
Looking back on it, I don't know why I tried... the fight didn't last at all long. I dunno... I guess I figured I didn't have much to lose either way, either that or something was gnawing at me on the inside, forcing me to fight him.
Tightening his grip on the Cross Driver, Christian lunged at Danius and much in the same fashion as he beheaded Marcus, took a grand swing at the red-head's cranium, attempting to end Gabriel's little party as quickly as possible.
I still don't know how he did it...
In a way that words can't describe, Danius came out from the swing without a scratch on his pale skin, or a cause for concern on his face. With one quick swing...
Got a little tough to see after that... it just hurt too much to really know what he did.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Christian wailed, falling to his knees, his entire body lost in convulsions as his hands gripped the left side of his face in a vain attempt stop the torrent of blood racing from the crevice that used to hold his eye.
Side-stepping around the downed Obscura, Danius grinned and fluttered his fingers in an odd fashion that propelled Christian into the air and opened up lacerations on almost every inch of his body... landing on the other end of the chamber drenched in his own warm fluids.
"Would you prefer to end this while your body still has the capacity to contain its own organs?"
What could I say to that? Like I said before, it was hard to see... but, I remember it, clear as day. He was standing over me. His whole body lit up red.. Like he was on fire. "See you on the other side." Yeah, that's what he said...
It gets a little fuzzy after that, all I remember is pure white... like in some head-trip movie and I could swear that... somewhere, Mel was calling out to me.
When I woke up, I was still in Marcus' Chambers, still surrounded by the dead; but I could see fine again and I apparently had stopped bleeding out of every single pore. "Still got the devil's luck." I thought to myself, that's when I noticed what I was wearing. "Dad's pilot suit..." There was no mistaking that thing, black all over and skin-tight... felt like wearing a condom.
"You're finally awake!" Someone called out from behind me.
I couldn't believe what I saw next... "M-Mel?" She was right beside me, draped in orange, surrounded by feathers and butt-naked as always; though... I couldn't see past her mid-drift. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight against her. "I thought you were..." I tried choking out, but... all this, it was just beyond words. "Shhh... it's okay now... I've got you..." She whispered back to me. It was like she was all around me, those feathers... I followed them to my fingers, all the way up to my back... "Try standing." She instructed.
It seemed as good an idea as any, so I got back to my feet, but as I did something caught under my right foot and standing on it hurt like hell. "OW!" I yelped, holding my hands out as if expecting whatever hurt to land right in their grasp... and to me surprise, something did. Something long... and black... and slender... like a, "TAIL?!" At this point, my eyes were about to fall out as I observed the black snack-like obtrusion all the way to the point where it met my hips on my back. "Shh! Quiet!" Mel chirped, placing a finger over my lips. "You'll wake him up..." she warned, pointing to my right. When I directed my attention to what she'd been pointing at, my eyes were met with a third great surprise... a red collection of feathers; similar to what Mel was encased in... if that was the proper term. "Wings... and a tail..." I looked at my crimson wing again. Mel, in one way or another inhabited the left one... so, it didn't take much guesswork to figure out who was lying dormant in the other one.
"So, is this that... 'part of something greater' he was boasting about?" I asked no one in particular. But Mel was quick to answer back. "Sort've." She replied, "...the end result clearly wasn't in his favor. I don't even know exactly what was supposed to happen. All I knew was that I wasn't going to let him steal you away from me again." Even if she was a shameless horn-dog, whenever she spoke, it was always comforting to listen to. I guess that's the whole point of family.
"We should probably go."
"Where?" I asked her.
"Somewhere. Far. Away from Zi. Nothing good can come from us staying here any longer."
I was inclined to agree with Melissa, besides, it would be rather difficult to blend in with the other people when you've got honkin' angel wings on your back and're draggin' around a tail. Apparently she could read my mind now too, because as soon as the thoughts came, she started laughing.
"There's a couple things I wanna do first. A couple people we need to see and give them the goodbye we cheated them out of." I knew she agreed with me, it was the least we could do for the people we'd turned our backs on when they needed us the most... even if they didn't forgive us.
I'm still not entirely sure what happened to me that night... I don't think I'll ever know. But, I don't think it's a matter worth delving over. What I told Marcus had come true, I was free not just from him, from my whole past. The life I'd lived for 20 years, trying to redeem the sins of our father... I realized I no longer had to live that way if I chose so. I just wish I didn't have to repeat his sins to come to that realization.
- End
"You know..." Danius started, calmly wiping his hands of the dry blood that'd built up on them, "...in spite of all my powers, I don't have the ability to return home. Though, that little oversight will be cleared up shortly. In any case, if I were to guess... then yes, I'd have to say I'd be pretty giddy to be back home.
"That so?" Chris returned, the words nearly stopped in his throat from anxiety. "Why am I so nervous? What's wrong with me?"
Walking up to the throne both Marcus and Christian had abandoned, Danius took it upon himself and have a seat, crossing one leg over the other and folding both his hands neatly over his bended knee, "Let me tell you a story. ...eh, have a seat."
A loud grunt escaped Christian's lips as unseen forces threw his body to the ground and turned him to face the story-teller. "...have you ever wondered why you're here? Why humans exist on a planet inhabited primarily by these... 'Zoids' of yours?"
"The thought crossed my mind a couple times... but, it's all ancient history, what does it matter?"
"Heh. Said the man who couldn't get over the fact that his father merrily slaughtered billions."
"Hey Danius? Bite me!"
"...maybe later..." His pale face was beaming with excitement, reclining back in the overly large seat; Danius stared absent-mindedly up at the ceiling as he so often did. "You've already learned of Earth, and that I'm one of its inhabitants... shouldn't come as a shock, since that's where you're from as well. Not you specifically, but, humans as a whole.
Christian sat silently, staring down at the floor... finding it the best he could do, still unable to move under his own power.
"Earth used to be a lot like Zi. On the brink of collapse, plagued by continuous war and fighting. A solution to the problems that faced the planet had to be found, lest the human race would drive itself to extinction. Eventually, a group exclaimed, 'Why don't we just get rid of those doing all the fighting?' Sounds like a reason a mother would give to her ignorant children, doesn't it?"
"..."
"Would you believe me if I told you it worked?"
"..."
"Yeah, I don't get it either. I won't bore you with the details, but all those humans naturally more prone to violence were gathered up and disposed of. Where, you might ask?"
Answering his own question, Danius pounded his knuckles against the throne's arm rest. "I'd say that was about... two-three thousand years ago? I dunno... eventually we all just stopped caring how long it'd been, there were better things to do with our time than ponder over the existence of some celestial trash. Violence and aggression removed from their societies, humanity concentrated on pulling Earth back from the brink as well as bettering himself as a living creature. The full potential of the human mind, that had eluded scientists for centuries was finally be discovered and utilized. Long story short, it was a Utopia. Evolution isn't some crack- pot theory, it's possible. One just has to cut the fat from the meat."
"Truly happy for ya, Danius." Christian spat back.
"Of course... so long as man exists, he shall continue to be an imperfect creature and there will always be flaws in even the most basic of systems. Although the hot-spots of aggression had been wiped from man's consciousness, a small bit still lingered... intrinsic in all humans, erasing it is a fool's dream. Every now and again, someone got too rowdy. Medication and therapy usually solved the problem... and the gravest of cases typically resulted in termination. But, as I said... no system is perfect."
"Is this story going to lead somewhere?"
"...where I'm from, I'm considered something of a degenerate; a creature who shouldn't exist in this world. Of course, they only say that out of fear; fear of something greater than they. I must say I was quite a precocious little paradox, containing me was... Heh, well... impossible and, as you're already aware, I can't be killed. After they got tired of me mauling everyone, they figured their all-purpose contingency plan worked once, it could work again. They lifted up the cover of a thousand years old can of garbage and threw me right in.... hoping that, like the rest of you, I would never re-surface."
"So I landed on this worthless rock, surrounded by inferior humans. God, it was just like I heard in stories growing up... all you do day in and day out is harm each other, bleed into each other; not even knowing why... guided by some intangible lust to end another's existence. For the first couple years, my mind was ravaged by depression. I'd rather die than stay here, I told myself but as we already covered, that wasn't an option... I needed a way out. Then, I met you."
"The fabled son of Vega Obscura, the man who slaughtered billions and destroyed half the planet. It was if all those pitiful souls he took gathered themselves into a single, wonderful being... you. You are the greatest this cesspool of humanity has, and ever will have to offer. You, Christian, are my ticket out of here. I would've pulled this all together sooner, if it hadn't been for that demandable Black Organoid implanting that kid's memories into your head. I had to cleanse you of that mental infection before I could move forward... I'd say that was about six months ago."
"Six months ago..." Chris thought under closed eyes, the last night he was ever truly himself.
"Your sibling, Melissa sure did make that whole ordeal quite interesting. Christian my boy... you railed your sister for hours on end and reveled in it. That's pretty sick, even for me."
Christian threw his head back and erupted in a fit of laughter as he recounted that night's events in his head.
"...and they say I'm twisted."
Trinity - Where This World Ends and the Next Begins....
"So, how am I supposed to lead you back to Earth? I've never even been there before." Christian asked, finally joining the conversation. ...the feeling slowly returning to his body.
"I'll be frank. I'm going to take your being into me, taking your skills, your mental powers, everything, into my being and through that fusion I will have the power to then return home."
"Sounds like fun..." Chris answered back, noticeably less than enthused.
"As much of a raving lunatic as I am, I do respect a human's will to preserve its own existence. It is out of that generosity that I'll allow you to try and stop me. If you succeed, then the story ends here and you'll be free to do whatever pleases your peon little brain for the rest of your days. If you fail... well..." Danius' trademark grin enlarged ten fold as the hue of his eyes and hair slowly inter-twined and traded places.
"That... can't be good." Christian shamelessly admitted to himself, returning to his feet as quickly as his worn body would permit.
"...then at least take solace in the fact that you'll be part of something greater."
Looking back on it, I don't know why I tried... the fight didn't last at all long. I dunno... I guess I figured I didn't have much to lose either way, either that or something was gnawing at me on the inside, forcing me to fight him.
Tightening his grip on the Cross Driver, Christian lunged at Danius and much in the same fashion as he beheaded Marcus, took a grand swing at the red-head's cranium, attempting to end Gabriel's little party as quickly as possible.
I still don't know how he did it...
In a way that words can't describe, Danius came out from the swing without a scratch on his pale skin, or a cause for concern on his face. With one quick swing...
Got a little tough to see after that... it just hurt too much to really know what he did.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!" Christian wailed, falling to his knees, his entire body lost in convulsions as his hands gripped the left side of his face in a vain attempt stop the torrent of blood racing from the crevice that used to hold his eye.
Side-stepping around the downed Obscura, Danius grinned and fluttered his fingers in an odd fashion that propelled Christian into the air and opened up lacerations on almost every inch of his body... landing on the other end of the chamber drenched in his own warm fluids.
"Would you prefer to end this while your body still has the capacity to contain its own organs?"
What could I say to that? Like I said before, it was hard to see... but, I remember it, clear as day. He was standing over me. His whole body lit up red.. Like he was on fire. "See you on the other side." Yeah, that's what he said...
It gets a little fuzzy after that, all I remember is pure white... like in some head-trip movie and I could swear that... somewhere, Mel was calling out to me.
When I woke up, I was still in Marcus' Chambers, still surrounded by the dead; but I could see fine again and I apparently had stopped bleeding out of every single pore. "Still got the devil's luck." I thought to myself, that's when I noticed what I was wearing. "Dad's pilot suit..." There was no mistaking that thing, black all over and skin-tight... felt like wearing a condom.
"You're finally awake!" Someone called out from behind me.
I couldn't believe what I saw next... "M-Mel?" She was right beside me, draped in orange, surrounded by feathers and butt-naked as always; though... I couldn't see past her mid-drift. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight against her. "I thought you were..." I tried choking out, but... all this, it was just beyond words. "Shhh... it's okay now... I've got you..." She whispered back to me. It was like she was all around me, those feathers... I followed them to my fingers, all the way up to my back... "Try standing." She instructed.
It seemed as good an idea as any, so I got back to my feet, but as I did something caught under my right foot and standing on it hurt like hell. "OW!" I yelped, holding my hands out as if expecting whatever hurt to land right in their grasp... and to me surprise, something did. Something long... and black... and slender... like a, "TAIL?!" At this point, my eyes were about to fall out as I observed the black snack-like obtrusion all the way to the point where it met my hips on my back. "Shh! Quiet!" Mel chirped, placing a finger over my lips. "You'll wake him up..." she warned, pointing to my right. When I directed my attention to what she'd been pointing at, my eyes were met with a third great surprise... a red collection of feathers; similar to what Mel was encased in... if that was the proper term. "Wings... and a tail..." I looked at my crimson wing again. Mel, in one way or another inhabited the left one... so, it didn't take much guesswork to figure out who was lying dormant in the other one.
"So, is this that... 'part of something greater' he was boasting about?" I asked no one in particular. But Mel was quick to answer back. "Sort've." She replied, "...the end result clearly wasn't in his favor. I don't even know exactly what was supposed to happen. All I knew was that I wasn't going to let him steal you away from me again." Even if she was a shameless horn-dog, whenever she spoke, it was always comforting to listen to. I guess that's the whole point of family.
"We should probably go."
"Where?" I asked her.
"Somewhere. Far. Away from Zi. Nothing good can come from us staying here any longer."
I was inclined to agree with Melissa, besides, it would be rather difficult to blend in with the other people when you've got honkin' angel wings on your back and're draggin' around a tail. Apparently she could read my mind now too, because as soon as the thoughts came, she started laughing.
"There's a couple things I wanna do first. A couple people we need to see and give them the goodbye we cheated them out of." I knew she agreed with me, it was the least we could do for the people we'd turned our backs on when they needed us the most... even if they didn't forgive us.
I'm still not entirely sure what happened to me that night... I don't think I'll ever know. But, I don't think it's a matter worth delving over. What I told Marcus had come true, I was free not just from him, from my whole past. The life I'd lived for 20 years, trying to redeem the sins of our father... I realized I no longer had to live that way if I chose so. I just wish I didn't have to repeat his sins to come to that realization.
- End