Novus Homo Landing Pad
SUICD Unit, Tokyo, Japan
17 November 2066, 00:44
"You look awful."
On Mitsuke's brown eyes he could clearly see his reflection, noticing for the first time how terrible he truly appeared. His left cheek had melted away to reveal its shiny metal interior, and its neighboring areas on his face were beginning to suffer the same fate. His left arm, on the other hand, was hopeless; the skin had been completely eaten up by the heat and flames of the explosion, and he couldn't move it because the circuitry had been burnt to a crisp. He sighed. "Yeah, I look like a monster," he seconded wryly, but then the notes of silence played, and he found himself looking away into the dark realm of nothingness. "He's dead, Zero. Is there still a way for us to win this war without Him? He always had the plans, but now that He---"
The brunette cut him off with a piercing glare. "He may be dead but His work will continue. Through us. We're going to win this stupid war, and if you refuse to believe that, it's a disgrace to consider you my partner, or even an ES to begin with." He raised an eyebrow disapprovingly. "You've never been the pessimistic kind, Griffon One. What's gotten into you?"
"Ah. So it's Kuroudo Marume, but also Griffon One and ES21-2," a sneering voice began from behind the pair of undercover agents, its owner casting a dark shadow upon them. His eyes were glittering with unmatched hatred and disgust. "My, my, my. I must admit, android, for a tin can you've got style."
"Kobayashi," Kuroudo growled in a low, lethal tone, turning to confront his superior officer who was approaching from the far side of the zone. His partner quickly grabbed him by the arm to hold him back, but was a second too late. The beam from Eddie's headlight had already landed on the blonde's form, scanning him from head to foot like some alien specimen; then it transferred on the brunette, who looked completely human but who had already been exposed to be a member of the mechanical outcasts.
The lieutenant acknowledged the other soldier in return. "Marume. No, ES21-2. Now I know what you truly are." Without so as much as a blink, he raised his blaster, leveling it at the disheveled-looking spy. The other two didn't have the time to react; as soon as the officer did so, all the other soldiers emerged from their hiding places, their weapons at hand and ready to fire. Kuroudo and Mitsuke were, unfortunately, surrounded. "I knew someone was leaking out information from the camp, but I didn't expect that it would be you, android. Captain Connellheim trusted you, and since I don't doubt his integrity even the slightest, I trusted you as well… trusted you enough to become your friend. But what have you done? You betrayed me, android."
The blonde's sensors registered anger, but not only from the brown-haired soldier, but also from himself. At least, what he felt was the robotic counterpart of the said human emotion, due to the other's repetition of the word android with much emphasis and distinction. In the same controlled tone, he countered, "Friend, you say, Lieutenant? Please, don't make me laugh. You're not my friend. None of you is. You humans are nothing but murderers and treacherous scums. No exceptions."
Eddie only laughed. "Say what you want, android. I don't care. This ends tonight."
As the young lieutenant continued to prattle about his feat at capturing two android spies, Kuroudo's hand flew to the center of his chest, where the human heart was supposed to be located. The moment the gesture was executed, Mitsuke knew what exactly his partner was up to: he was going to self-destruct. He knew that the blonde would rather die than give the enemy a chance of victory; it was one of the fiercest commands ever programmed in ES21-2's memory bank. But he, too, was well aware that his partner had a mission far greater than taking an entire squadron of human soldiers to their deaths through his suicide, thus there was no way he was going to let Kuroudo just throw his life away.
"Twenty-one Two," the brunette whispered calmly, and that registered surprised on the other 'droid. For the span of time they had been together, he had never called Kuroudo by his number code, and he was sure that the other was taken aback. The moment his chestnut-colored eyes were met by the blonde's ice blue ones, he raised his hand and swiftly threw a shiny metal object, which the other promptly caught. Before the flaxen-haired spy could say a word or take a look at the item he had just received, Mitsuke took a step towards Eddie and his cronies, closing his eyes briefly. When he reopened them, they were lined with stubborn determination. "Go to Berlin."
It took quite sometime for the other to digest the order, but as soon as he was able to, Kuroudo's eyes widened in shock and realization. As Mitsuke placed his hand on his chest in the very same gesture he had just executed, he exclaimed, "But Zero---!"
"Don't argue with me, Twenty-one Two! Leave now!"
"Nobody's going anywhere, android. At least, without me. Now, why don't you be good boys and raise your hands above your head? You don't want to get hurt any more than you already are, do you? Or do you want to experience a little short-circuit? That wouldn't be pleasant. I'd hate to have to put you together when the time comes for you to be interrogated, you know."
Mitsuke then took a step forward. And another. And another. When he was barely a meter away from the smooth-talking army officer, he stopped and smirked, putting the most confident front he could muster. His right hand was still on top of his chest, already connected to the bomb that was well hidden inside his metal torso. In a few seconds, it would all be over. "You're not going anywhere either, human. At least, without me."
Eddie glared. "I can disintegrate you right here, right now. You don't scare me."
"Really?" the brunette's voice took an amused tone. "Well, then, let me be of help. Allow me to tell you a couple of important information before you disintegrate me, in return for my partner's betrayal of your trust. Before I came here to rescue Twenty-one Two, I received a transmission from one of our superior officers stationed in Berlin. His name's Reich Führer, although you humans know him as Harry Gamble. He told me that he had just received the program to activate SC1-43, the android 'messiah' you have all been searching for, and he wanted me to go to Berlin to help out. But well, you've got me, so there's no way I can go to Berlin now…"
The lieutenant quickly commented on Mitsuke's spur-of-the-moment confession, offering his survival in exchange for more information, but the android only shook his head, saying that they wouldn't have any use for it anyway. Kuroudo, however, had gotten the hint. There was no way the brunette could go to Berlin, but he could. Closing his sapphire orbs in preparation for what he was about to do, he silently thanked Mitsuke for everything and promised him that he would not fail, then he turned around and, like greased lightning, fled.
Immediately, Eddie's subordinates began pouring blaster fire on the escaping android, with their commander barking an order after the other in a frenzy, and as the blonde continued to seek safety, his partner let out a laugh. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about him if I were you, Lieutenant. You should worry about me, because I'm just about to self-destruct. In fact…" He paused, his smile twisting into a cruel, sardonic one. "I have already started the countdown. Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven…"
Color drained from the young officer's face. He didn't want to believe the android at first, but when he looked into Mitsuke's mechanical eyes, he knew that the android wasn't lying. He called back his soldiers and ordered them to fall out and head to safety, him running ahead of everyone else.
Four…
Three…
Two…
One…
Goodbye, Kuroudo.
/To be continued…/
Notes: Aaah that was a hard chapter! I'm sorry if the ending sucked, but I couldn't think of any other way to end it – and yes, this is Kazie. Mara's first chapter will be the fifth. *smiles* Anyway, back to the story notes… Harry's code name, Reich Führer, is actually taken from the name of his Gear in German. In English, it's something with Bridge Vogel… or commonly known as 'The Swan'. I'd like to thank Schrenima for sharing that tidbit about Harry. So… that's it for now, thanks for reading and please review!