Previously in GVS2: Battle Revolution…
Lone Wolf sighed and lifted her face, staring at her eyes. "Truly, I'm very sorry. But I have made a promise, and if I don't keep it… everything will be brought to nothing. You have to understand, Hibiki. You have to."
Hibiki was staring deep into his eyes before she broke the eyesight. "Baaka. Lone Wolf-san baaka…"
"I know I'm a baaka," he spoke, gleaming, "that's why I'm an Author with this given responsibility: to prevent things in this universe from going stupid and crazy, not mentioning out of control. And I'm also responsible for all people under my observation, including you." He bent forward and softly pressed his lips against her. It was a light kiss; yet for a woman who had never been kissed before, Hibiki was taken by the author's surprised action and could do nothing to resist it. Later she submitted, returning the kiss and pressing her body against his, wanting the kiss to last a little longer.
He broke off the kiss and stared at her eyes. "Call me a baaka as much as you want, but I've got to go. Gomen, but I'll be careful. Trust me."
Hibiki was reluctant. She still didn't want Lone Wolf to go. After all, both of them were already attached to each other and never wanted to be separated. Lone Wolf sighed and took her index finger and hooked it with his. "I promise you not to get hurt or letting things to hurt me, and I promise you to come back in one piece." He covered the hooked fingers with his free hand and stared at her. "There. Satisfied?" Hibiki could say nothing anymore but to nod to answer 'yes'. "Arigatou. Ja, ittekimasu." He kissed her forehead and left her, running toward the battlefield. She watched at him -his boyfriend, and his beloved person- and went into tears again.
"Itterashai…"
x-x-x-x-x
GVS2: Battle Revolution
Conceived and written by: Lone Wolf NEO
Lone Wolf NEO does not own any of the games/animé/manga/magazine/whatsoever inside this story. He does, however, own all the original characters conceived in this story. So, don't 'play-play' with him and own them without his permission, ne?
Also, Lone Wolf Neo dedicates this very chapter to his buddy Sheo Darren. He doesn't know why, but he feels he want to do so.
x-x-x-x-x
Chapter 33: Awaken
Part 3: Truth and Denial: The Power of One
"Is everybody alright?" asked Yuuki out loud, while her girl-only crews who happened to be friends of Sheo assisted her in human charity service. The situation had gone worse since it did not only involve the daredevils but also the local townspeople, but thankfully the arrival of her crews helped to ease things. Though she was still doubtful of why would Lone Wolf NEO take a long time to return, she saved that for later. Right now, she was in charge of dividing food supply to the war victims, being helped by the Maverick Hunter Zero and his trustworthy assistant Ciel.
Full Metal Panic's Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa was seen giving orders to her Mithril subordinates. At another scene, Noir's Kirika Yuumura and Chloe were helping the children, whilst Terry generously offered himself to help the duo. At the other scene, Neon Genesis Evangelion's Ayanami Rei was wrapping Gojyo's arms with bandage.
"Miss, please, you don't have to do this," Gojyo insisted. "Just leave me with this. I'm pretty much used to injuries."
Rei didn't say anything. She merely proceeded with her task.
"Say, for a girl who doesn't talk, you're so beautiful." Gojyo spoke.
Rei remained silent.
"How about a date, miss?" he suggested. "I, Sha Gojyo, shall do my best to impress you."
Finally, Rei opened her mouth. "No, thank you."
Gojyo was upset to hear the answer. "You don't want to? Aw, come on. You're lucky to meet the most charming guy a girl can dream of. What do you say? Will you go out with me?" At that time he felt a revolver being pressed against the back of his head. He turned around and saw the pissed-off face of Sanzo.
"Shut up and behave," the blonde monk demanded.
"Puh-lease, Sanzo," Gojyo insisted. "Why can't I look for a girl to date with?"
"You'll only cause trouble if you're to date a girl," Sanzo uttered.
Gojyo grinned and slyly eyed at the monk. "It's not that I'm going to take advantage on them. A guy like me will not-OUCH!"
"Please, don't move around too much," Rei reminded and made a tight wrap on his arm.
Yuuki could only shake her head in wonder. Some of the people are surely a comical relief in situations like this, she pondered. The That Girl, then, looked around and saw the sight of Sol and Iori sitting on a bench which miraculously survived the battle and chattering among each other, whilst Kagura and Malin occasionally interrupted the conversation. Then there's another sight of Dizzy and Hotaru admiring their cheerleading suit: a sight of bliss for every fanboy, as they are the cutest female-only couple to exist. Forget the dream to have them paired up in hentai doujin, Yuuki insisted, Ky and Rock already owned them. She grinned. "Heh, owned."
She looked around again and saw the sight of John giving orders to his Jellyfish Pirates. Somehow he reminded her of Johnny, the original Lord of the Pirates. She was still uncertain, though; his body is still nowhere to be found after months of search operations done by her agents. Maybe he escaped death and is now in a journey of self-enlightenment, who knows?
She switched her sight to her right and saw the scene she certainly didn't want to see: Hibiki sitting alone. She had heard from Sheo that Hibiki is a woman with a strong courage who would never let herself down in all occasions. Yet the Hibiki she's seeing now was frowning. Wanting to know what troubled her, Yuuki approached her.
"Miss Yuuki, Mister Loki would like to meet you onboard the ship." Yuuki grumbled at the relayed message. What is it now? She mumbled and lazily walked toward the ship.
.
Along the whole passing day, Hibiki was silent. She didn't bother to speak with the people, or even consider helping the workers. She remained silent; it's not that she didn't want to be bothered. Rather, she was hindered.
"May I sit here?" She looked up and noticed that Millia was standing before her.
"H-haii," she replied and moved a bit, giving the Russian woman a space to sit. She just watched, as Millia sat down and outstretched her body. Apparently she was helping the workers, and given by her nationality advantage, she had no problem communicating with the local people. From the facial expression she showed, Hibiki was certain that she was enjoying it.
"Mmm… it's good to be back to homeland," Millia uttered, stretching her arms forward. "I haven't been here for, like, ages. It's really nostalgic to return to place you call home, don't you think Hibiki?"
"Haii…" the Musou Maden Ryuu master answered. She didn't take the slightest of a glance, as Millia began talking about herself. Though she was listening to it (and occasionally nodding to some of the words) her mind had only one thing to think of.
Lone Wolf NEO.
"And before I know it," Millia ended her story, "I'm here, caught in the confusion of battle, fighting a certain command Gear powered by a kind of forbidden magic. Heh, I might have gone crazy if I was to face that Gear, but I owed that kid… uh, what's his name again?"
"Hikki, Kokurabuji Hikki," Hibiki told her.
"Ah, yes. Hikki the cosplay elite," she spoke, scratching her not-so itchy head with her hair. "It's kind of strange to see a cosplayer who fights like nobody else. Talk about a talented kid."
Hibiki just nodded. The Hikki she and everybody else knew was a child with a twisted past, who had lost his beloved ones in the hand of the command Gear. She missed the old Hikki: cheerful, happy-go-lucky, owns a pure, unadulterated ignorance, not mentioning him being an emotional. She wondered whether she would be able to meet the old Hikki after the long, gruesome battle he had to face, not mentioning heartbreaking experience he had to bear.
"Ne, Millia-san…"
"What is it, Hibiki?" asked the Russian ex-assassin.
Trying to gather her strength, Hibiki began to speak. "Lone Wolf-san… and Hikki-san… don't you think they're very much similar?"
"You think so?" she asked in surprised. Taking a while to figure out the answer, she giggled. "I never thought of it, but if you ask me about Lone Wolf, well, he's one strange man for me. At one time, you may foresee him as a guy with lots of charms and affections, and before you blink your eyes, he drags you into his mind-boggling craziness. I must admit that I disliked him for sending me to that place (she was referring to the Omaha Beach in Guilty Gear versus SNK)." She took a deep breath and stared at the open sky. "But in the end, he's the type of guy I wished for. Too bad, he already got someone."
Abruptly Hibiki stood up and walked away from the sitting place. "Hibiki? Hibiki, what's wrong with you?" Millia called and rushed toward her woman, seizing her hand. "Don't leave just like that. I-if I had said anything wrong, I'm very sorry. I-"
A hard slap perched on her cheek. Millia was astounded; he had been slapped by Hibiki. Rubbing her bruised cheek, she looked at Hibiki and noticed tears forming in her eyes well.
"Baaka!" the woman cried. "Don't say anything about Lone Wolf-san! As if he's going to chase after a woman like some womanizers out there! He's not like that! He's not!"
"Oi, that isn't a good statement," commented Gojyo from the background.
Tears began to well in her eyes, as Hibiki clenched her fist and glowered at the ex-assassin. "The truth is… the truth is… the truth is you don't even know anything about him! You don't! And don't ever think of becoming his girlfriend!"
Another strike followed on. This time it came from Millia, irritated by the insult she didn't need to listen. "Watch you mouth, you little…" It wasn't long before she realized that she delivered a quite nasty slap, as she saw Hibiki rubbing her bruised cheek in a shocked reaction. "Err… I didn't mean to do it. I swear!"
"You're so mean at me! How could you!" Hibiki cried and ran away; ignoring several workers she collided with. Millia tried to chase her, before she decided not to.
"Sol-kun, Hibiki-san is running away," Kagura told him.
"None of my business, Kagura," Sol answered. "Then what are you expecting me to do? Chase her and try to console her? Give me a break."
"On the other hand, you better do that," Iori suggested. "After all, both you and Hibiki were paired up as a TAG team, right?"
Sol grumbled and took a sip of the Colt 45 beverage. "So what? It's not that I wanted her to be my partner. I don't want to have any…" He was silent. Kagura was staring at the Corrupted Flame in utter disbelief. "Stop staring at me. And before you get the idea wrong, I didn't have any problem with her at all. Okay?"
"Sol-kun meanie…" Kagura said, covering her mouth with her hands. "Meanie…" As usual, the American badass gave up and had to consider the fact that the cute piggy-girl is as stubborn as a bulldog when it comes to persuasion. Behind him, Athena and Justine spoke the word "Sol-chan meanie…" repeatedly while waved a 'no-no' gesture at him.
"Curse. Nobody messes with me," he mumbled and stood up, heading to the direction Hibiki was running away. "Damn it, why do I have to be nice at people?"
x-x-x-x-x
"Falken Schneider!"
PARRY!
"Falken Jagger!"
INSTANT BLOCK!
"Shadow Rise."
COUNTER!
"Witness. Appreciate. Admire. Flight of the Bumblebee."
AWESOME!
"I cannot be defeated! PSYCH BURST COUNTER!"
COUNTER!
"CHRONO STORM!"
Another Chrono Storm was summoned. The Chrono command Gear had the overdrive charged up to an utterly impossible level. It was ridiculously strong that Nagalintar got pushed back even after he defended himself with Fortress Block. Strangely, Lone Wolf NEO wasn't affected by the Chrono Storm. In fact, he was acting as if he felt nothing.
"Impossible…" the woman spoke. "My Chrono Storm has failed… it's impossible…"
"Surprised?" Lone Wolf spoke and yawned. "Oh, man. That was so boring…"
Mriya couldn't say anything. She had trapped him with Chaos Drones. She had slowed him down with Chaos Spikes. She had counterattacked him with Time Revolt and Imperial Revolt. She had slashed his body many times with Falken Schneider, and Roman Cancelled the last strike into a Falken Sworden. She even summoned a massive Chrono Storm. Yet all her efforts were futile. Her enemy were left intact.
"Let me tell you something, Mriya," Lone Wolf told her, "I know practically every move you're going to make against me. So it's useless; even if you're going to launch another Chaos Drone flocks, I can still counteract it."
"How… how did you know?" Mriya demanded. "How did you know everything about me?"
"Oh, please. You know me already, don't you remember?" Lone Wolf said. "You can't deny the truth that you even know who I am."
"Am I?" Then she was startled and held her head, shaking it in dismay. A certain flashback of past memory had invaded her mind, and she struggled to erase it. A memory of a 10-years-old event which had brought to the current situation.
Finally she stopped shaking. She stared at the author in disbelief. "It… it cannot be. Is that really you, Lone Wolf?" she questioned. "Why are you here? I thought you'd leave me for good and never come back. You lied to me."
"Hey, it wasn't my decision in the first place," Lone Wolf insisted. "After all, it was you who agreed to give yourself to the research team, right?"
"Enough with that!" Mriya demanded.
"Lone Wolf NEO, what are you trying to do?" Nagalintar questioned as he approached him.
"Look, dragon. She's maybe a Gear, but at least she might still have a memory of her past," Lone Wolf told him, "I'm trying to make her regain her memory."
"That's impossible," Nagalintar insisted.
"Well, we don't know the result if we don't try." The author said to the guardian dragon. He, then, looked back at Mriya. "Alright, Mriya. I don't know why you agreed with the clan to become a Gear in the first place, but what you're doing is wrong."
"I have done nothing wrong!" the woman answered and pointed at his face. "It was you! You, who had purposely left me, you had done the wrong thing for abandoning me!"
Lone Wolf sighed. He could not believe that the woman who was once his lover would be so corrupted as she was now. "Then you think that you can punish me and everybody else for the wrongdoings by turning yourself into a Gear? Is that what you're trying to achieve?" He put back NEO Dagger into its sheath and stepped forward. "Please, Mriya. Think of what have you done along this time."
"I do not have time to tolerate with you weaklings!" she roared and unleashed a blast of her power, enough to push him backward. "What have I done is right! Those who stand in my way are the wrong! Everybody, anybody! All of them are wrong! I'm the only one who's right!"
"You've completely blinded by the Gear instinct," Lone Wolf spoke. "I cannot believe my eyes… the Mriya I know would never do such… insolent acts."
"SILENCE!" she demanded and cut the ground before her with Falken Sworden. Both Nagalintar and Lone Wolf jumped out of the overdrive's reach and landed on a patch of land.
"I've told you it's impossible," Nagalintar told him. "That woman has been corrupted by the Gear power and the magic."
"It seems so," the author spoke and withdrew NEO Dagger. "Looks like this duel is going to be tougher than I thought."
x-x-x-x-x
Lone Wolf NEO nodded in acknowledgement. The weapon he ordered was right before his eyes. Looking nothing more than a regular Swiss army knife, NEO Dagger was in fact among the best weapon ever forged in the history of mankind. Forged from seven different materials of best quality and designed to survive all kind of battles, NEO Dagger had been believed to be used alongside the Fireseal and the Thunderseal, the latter two being a portion of the Outrage, in the Holy War. Nobody knew who was its creator or its first user, yet the dagger was considered as a world treasure. As mysterious as it was, NEO Dagger had been reached by the hand of a fighter who owned the new right over it. The author chose NEO Dagger as the weapon of choice not because he had interest on its origin or its historical background; he chose the weapon because he was entrusted to become its new owner.
"No time to lose," he spoke and took the dagger. Admiring the beauty of its Oriental carvings on its blade, he put it back into its sheath and clipped the dagger on his belt.
"I hope that you'll use the weapon wisely, Lone Wolf," Nik said. "You're very lucky to come by today, actually. Its original owner had asked me to return the dagger to him if nobody is interested in buying it."
Lone Wolf looked at the shopkeeper and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for keeping this dagger, Nik."
Nik grinned at the lone wolf of authors' world. "No problem."
Lone Wolf NEO saluted him and walked out of the door, yet Nik called him back. "What is it?"
Smiling at him, Nik showed him a thumb up. "Ganbatte." Lone Wolf grinned in response and left the shop, heading toward Ukraine.
x-x-x-x-x
It only took a few walks before Sol found the woman sitting under a maple which also survived the wrath of battle. He approached her and stared down at her. "Stop crying, it doesn't do any help," he growled.
"Why are people so mean at me…?" she whispered between her sobs, not realizing Sol's presence beside her. "Is it wrong to love somebody you know you're in love with? Is it wrong for me to be in love with Lone Wolf-san?"
"Stop mumbling, damn it," Sol hissed.
"I love him… I don't want him to be taken by somebody else…" she mumbled, "not even Cassandra-san…"
"I said stop it," he demanded.
"I'll kill those who stand in my way… for Lone Wolf-san… I will…"
"STOP FUCKING WITH ME, DAMN IT!"
A loud bang echoed in the air. Hibiki was startled and looked at Sol, at that time slammed a fist on the tree trunk, causing a bunch of maple leaves to fall down. "Sol-san… doushite…?"
"Go ahead, kill as many people as you want for you beloved one," Sol spoke with a pissed-off tone on the word 'beloved'. "I don't give a fucking care if you're caught red-handed after that, but Lone Wolf doesn't want that to happen to you. Fuck it, why people always do reckless things?"
"And if you think that he's going to break another promise," the Guilty Gear insisted, "DON'T! Who do you think Lone Wolf is, huh? An idiot loser who's willing to die for a fucking cry-baby? Damn it, not another out-of-character again…"
Hibiki frowned. Her face was stained with the pink colour of embarrassment after being directly foulmouthed by Sol himself. And to be called a cry-baby, she didn't like it. After all, Lone Wolf had told her that he doesn't want to see her in tears.
"Gomenassai…" she spoke, unable to control the tears from falling down her flushed cheeks. "Honto ni, gomennasai…"
"Cut it off," Sol told her and turned around. "We're going. Those people might be worried at you for running away at time like this." Hibiki was still crying, ignoring what had he told to her. "Damn it. Stop crying, will you?"
"H-haii…" she spoke and wiped all her tears. "Sol-san, gomen ne…"
"Yare, yare, daze…"
The two fighters returned to the place, where the people were waiting for them. Sol took a very little concern of them and walked to the bench, thus they surrounded the still-troubled Hibiki. The iaijitsu woman dared not to stare at Millia who was among them, as she was very ashamed of herself to have slapped the ex-assassin.
"Gomennasai, minasan…" she apologized and bowed before them. "Honto ni…"
"Now, now," Millia uttered and approached her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to apologize to us, you know."
"But…" she replied and again went into tears, though she tried not to cry.
Millia pulled her onto her body, enveloping her arms around her in the gentlest embrace she could muster. "It's okay, Hibiki…" she whispered and soothed her back. Hibiki broke into a bitter cry and clung onto her tightly, her tears dampening the bodysuit of the Russian woman.
"Gomennasai, Millia-san…" she spoke between her sobs. "I…"
"Shh…" Millia hushed. "Don't cry, Hibiki. Everybody here doesn't want to see you in tears." She lifted Hibiki's face and smiled at her. "Cheer up. You're worried of Lone Wolf; we all are worried of him. But he'll return to us safely. He will." Hibiki could not say anything but to nod in agreement.
"ALERT. ALERT." suddenly Robo Ky alerted, his green eyes flashing rapidly. "BARRIER HAS BEEN BREACHED. BARRIER HAS BEEN BREACHED. SECURITY LEVEL IS EXTENDED TO LEVEL S." At the same time the PWAB knight gave out the alarm, a massive explosion shook the earth in a violent tremor, followed by a series of rainbow-coloured flash filling the sky of Ukraine. They looked at the light show and heard a high-pitched battle cry from the area, followed by the roar of an ancient beast. A moment later, an invisible barrier shattered and three figures emerged from an area concealed inside the barrier. One of the figures dashed away from the area, followed by the other twos.
"THAT'S LONE WOLF NEO!" Robo Ky reported. "BUT THE SITUATION IS FAR TOO DANGEROUS FOR ANY OF US TO INTERFERE!"
"What do you mean we can't?" Ky demanded.
"ENERGY SOURCE IS DETECTED FROM THE COMMAND GEAR, AND IT REACHES LEVEL… WARNING. WARNING. UNABLE TO CALCULATE AMOUNT OF ENERGY UNLEASHED. OVERRIDING COMMAND." The robot shivered uncontrollably, trying to regain control of his system. "SYSTEM FAILURE. ERROR! BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!"
"Waaa! Robo Ky!" Sumomo cried and jumped onto his head. "I've told you not to overstress yourself!"
Robo Ky gasped under his robotic breath and groaned. "I SHOULD MEET NIK IMMEDIATELY. OH, WAIT. ZERO CAN FIX MY BODY."
"Forget about that command Gear! We ought to help Lone Wolf!" the Holy Knight insisted and ran toward the battling rivals.
"Dame…" The plea was simple, yet it was enough to halt Ky from continuing his steps. He turned around and saw Hibiki staring at her, shaking her head in disagree. "Onegai… don't go…"
"If anybody is to fight the command Gear, why doesn't he ask for the strongest fighters from among us to help?" Ky asked, his eyes burning in rage.
"Because," the iaijitsu woman said, a smile carved upon her face, "Lone Wolf-san will win this battle. He will win this for us, for those who he protects." A sincere answer spoken from the heart of a woman who has been fighting and experiencing life along with the person she loves and cares.
"Minasan," Hibiki spoke, "I don't know whether this will work, but please believe in Lone Wolf-san. His victory depends on our trust, and he needs it very much." She clasped her hands and closed her eyes. "Let us pray for his success, and hope that our voices will reach his heart."
x-x-x-x-x
"The battle has gone worse, I fear…" whispered Aurora. Ironically, she smiled and looked at the clear sky. "But it seems that everyone is praying for his victory, and hoping that their voices will reach his heart." She stood up and walked away from the oak tree. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, whispering, "this Handmaiden shall pray for your victory, Chosen One."
A hymn echoed in the serene garden, as all wishes and dreams combined into one single voice and reached the very heart of their chosen one. The voice of the hope untainted by the filthiest stain of the world. The voice of those who wished for a pure, unadulterated peace. Together, they combined to form the power of one. The power no one will ever resist under all circumstances. The power that will reach the heart of the chosen one, and altogether decide the outcome of the faithful battle of truth and denial.