Notes: I know what you're thinking. Why is Erts afraid of Kazuhi? If not, you should be. More on that this time. You'll also get an idea of what Hiead is planning in that evil little mind of his.
Warning: Erts's dream is of a very graphic nature. It's as close as I'm getting to a lemon…and there is a reason for it, believe it or not.
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Chapter 11
They never really discussed the fact that, all too often, they were of the same mind. Zero would've found it mildly interesting for about an hour, and Kizna would've scoffed at the idea entirely.
Neither, however, could explain why they ended up doing so many of the same things in the same places at the exact same time.
Once, Kizna might have accused Zero of copying her just to be annoying or because he was bored. Now, she was not quite so strongly individual, and generally chalked it up to being around each other so much. It wasn't so much annoying now as it was just a little weird…maybe even a bit endearing. These strange little occurrences always seemed to hint that they did belong together after all, that they were meant to be partners, and she could never seem to get angry over that.
Zero didn't seem bothered, either. Lately, he was always overjoyed to spend time with her, for reasons beyond her own understanding. Maybe Hiead had given him too many blows to the head, or maybe he was just being Oddly Affectionate Zero again (he was better than Incredibly Annoying Zero, at least). He never failed to find something for them to do together, whether it was discussing battle strategy, or just passing time with a game he'd thought up.
Perhaps it was best that neither realized how close they were slowly growing, how quickly and effortlessly they had adapted to this new life merely by drawing strength from each other.
* * * * *
Roose was not certain what had happened in the last few hours.
The last thing he remembered was lying in his bed with Wrecka curled up next to him.
Now, suddenly, he was in the midst of a heated battle.
His first thought was that he would have to convince Wrecka to take it easy on him. His second was that a Victim as big as his Ingrid probably shouldn't be heading straight at him like that.
"Roose! ROOSE!" Erts shouted again over the connection. Clearly, he'd been doing that for some time. "Get out of the way, it's right on top of you!!!"
Wondering how he could've possibly missed the proximity alarms that were going off, Roose sent all power to a central shield, braced for impact, and hoped he wouldn't break anything, himself included.
The Victim slammed into him with the force of a rather large runaway train, and carried them both several yards before deciding to become a bashing and beating kind of runaway train.
"Roose! Hit it with an EMP right now!" Zero ordered.
"What? Why?!" Roose shouted back.
"So it won't move out of the way when Garu shoots it!"
"When he WHAT?!" Roose shrieked. But already he could see Eeva Leena moving into firing range, and since he had no desire to be hit, did as Zero told him.
The EMP stunned the Victim for about three seconds…and then it just became an annoyance.
"It's too big! Shoot it, shoot it!" Roose cried.
"It'll move if I do!" Gareas snapped.
"SHOOT IT!"
"Do you WANT me to shoot you, kid?!"
"You'll have to…once I'm in too much pain to STOP SCREAMING!!! SHOOT!"
Suddenly, there was a horrible shriek, and then silence.
"Shoot now," Hiead said calmly.
Gareas honestly considered shooting HIM, especially since the psycho had just buried Omega Kallisto's sword in the Victim…and more importantly, in Megami Senshi's midsection. But the Victim was still struggling, so with a deep breath, he took aim and filled the monster (the one not passing itself off as a Pilot, that is) with holes.
Afterwards, Hiead removed the sword without a word and headed back to GIS.
Gareas wanted to complain as soon as they got back, but he knew it would do no good. Anyone in charge would see the situation as he first had. Pinning the Victim down had been necessary to keep from accidentally shooting Roose, and Hiead HAD pinned it down, even if it meant damaging Roose not quite by accident.
Anyway, Roose had assured them on the way back that there wasn't MUCH blood, and that he would probably be fine in a few days…
* * * * *
Kizna was in the middle of a very intense thumb-wrestling match when she heard a voice in her head.
~"Is this a bad time?"~
She scowled as the temporary distraction allowed Zero to get an easy pin. ~"Yes, but come on in, Erts."~
Zero was still grinning over his victory when Erts walked into the room. "Erts!" he cried happily. "Feeling competitive?" He twitched his thumbs eagerly.
"I don't think Erts came to vie for the title, Zero," Kizna said pointedly. "Besides, we both know I'm getting it back tomorrow."
Zero stuck his tongue out at her. "So what brings you here, Erts?"
"A dream," Erts said simply.
"THE dream?" Kizna asked, leaning forward.
Erts sighed. "Yes."
"What dream?" Zero asked at once. "Why wasn't I told?"
"You weren't there," Kizna said quickly. "Go on, Erts."
"Well…it was a bad dream."
Zero blinked. "There had BETTER be more to it than that."
"It's…difficult to describe."
"You mean you can't remember?" Kizna guessed.
"No, I do. I'm…afraid you'll laugh."
Zero frowned. "Why would we laugh at a bad dream?"
"Hiead did."
"Well, your first mistake was telling that maniac instead of me," Kizna huffed. "I bet he didn't ask to hear it, either."
Erts shook his head. "No. But the dream concerned him, so I-"
"No WONDER it was a bad dream!" Zero said with a smirk.
"Can I finish, please?" Erts asked.
"Sorry."
Erts took a deep breath. "I…I think I saw Omega Kallisto…her true form, I mean."
Zero frowned and started to protest (perhaps that she was beautiful and not at all scary), but Kizna silenced him with an elbow to the ribs.
"She was…upset about something. Then…she put her hands on Kazuhi's shoulders, and…passed something to her."
"You mean she handed Kazuhi something?" Kizna asked.
"No, she passed it…through her hands, but directly into Kazuhi's body."
"…you mean she possessed Kazuhi?" Zero asked slowly.
Erts shot him a strange look. "Yes, I suppose I do."
"And then what?"
"Kazuhi…she was different…not in a good way, but I can't describe it any better than that."
"And that's what scared you?" Kizna guessed, sounding sympathetic.
Erts nodded. "Yes, but…there's more. Kazuhi went to Hiead and…"
"What?" Zero asked.
"I…I can't say it." Erts hung his head.
"She did something bad?" Zero guessed. "She kissed him???"
"…worse than that."
"She slept with him?!" Kizna asked in horror.
"…getting closer," Erts muttered.
"I can't really imagine anything worse than that," Kizna admitted.
"So it definitely involved sex?" Zero asked, earning a glare from Kizna. "What?! I thought we were guessing?"
"Yes, it did," Erts admitted.
Kizna stared at him. "I'm out of guesses. Maybe my mind just won't let me think of anything worse than sleeping with Hiead…"
"What, did she beg him first?" Zero asked at last.
Kizna rolled her eyes.
Erts looked away. "She didn't ask…"
"She demanded?" Zero sounded shocked.
"She didn't ask," Erts repeated, placing emphasis on the last two words.
"…you're not saying she…?"
"Yes, Zero."
"…what?" Kizna asked, looking between them. "What?!"
Zero whispered in Kizna's ear.
Kizna blinked and looked at Erts. "I think I know why Hiead laughed."
Erts closed his eyes. "He has already pointed out the comedic value, believe me."
"I have to say, Erts, that's a messed up dream," Zero declared. "And let me assure you that it IS a dream."
"You can say THAT again," Kizna agreed.
"If Kazuhi was really going to jump someone, Hiead would be LAST on the list…if he was even on it to begin with. I mean, she'd probably jump ME first."
Erts glared at him.
"Or you!"
"Why does everyone think I'm jealous?!" Erts cried. "This is not something I want to experience!"
"Erts, try to see it from a feminine perspective," Kizna said. "When guys do picture girls having sex, it's usually with them and generally a good thing."
"But it WASN'T ME!"
"Yeah, we know, but still. You pictured Kazuhi having sex with Hiead."
"But she was RAPING him, Kizna!"
"…wait. Did he enjoy it?" Zero asked.
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
"If he enjoyed it, you could argue it was just sex…not that it makes it any better. It's STILL Hiead…"
Kizna rolled her eyes. "Okay, CLEARLY Zero is jealous. Anyway, you said Kazuhi was possessed by Omega Kallisto. She didn't WANT to do it, right? And maybe Hiead was possessed, too?"
Erts shrugged. "Now that I think about it, he wasn't enjoying it…he looked…out of it, like he didn't know what was happening."
"Wait, that could mean he was enjoying it!" Zero protested.
"He wasn't!" Erts insisted angrily.
"How would you know? You were just watching, and I know YOU'VE never-"
"Zero," Kizna said firmly.
"Well, he hasn't! Anyway, what did Hiead say when you told him?"
"He…asked if I was jealous."
"Are you?" Kizna asked. "That he spends more time with Kazuhi, I mean?"
"…it's possible," Erts said after a moment.
"You miss her, don't you?" Kizna asked softly.
"Kizna, you're missing the point."
"Why are you getting defensive? It's a simple ques-"
"Look, we all know that Erts likes Kazuhi," Zero interrupted. "That's just FACT."
Erts blushed.
"What we don't know is what brought on this dream. Erts, lately I've seen you avoiding Kazuhi like the plague. So if you're NOT jealous, then you must be afraid that you're next on her list of boys to corrupt."
"Assuming it IS just boys," Kizna murmured, an odd expression on her face.
"I'd rather not think that far ahead," Erts said through clenched teeth.
"But you can't seriously believe that Kazuhi would ever do that to you?" Kizna asked.
"It was a highly realistic dream," Erts argued, though he sounded doubtful himself.
Zero shook his head. "If Kazuhi really wanted you, Erts, I think she'd ask first. I mean, you're not even a couple, so it's just common decency to."
Kizna sighed heavily. "Zero, SHUT UP. Erts, it was a dream. I think you're safe. The only thing you have to worry about is hurting Kazuhi's feelings by not interacting with her as much."
"I'd suggest never telling anyone else about the dream," Zero said.
"OR this conversation," Kizna quickly added.
* * * * *
Hiead was not surprised to find Kazuhi at Omega Kallisto's console at such a late hour. He had quickly realized that there was no such thing as working late to Kazuhi, only working. Though, he was struck by a sudden urge to tell her about Erts's "warning" to him, just to see how she would react. Somehow, he doubted she would find it as funny as he had.
She did not look up from the console, and so he was almost startled when she finally addressed him.
"Did you need something, Hiead-san?"
"How long are you going to be working this time?" he asked as he moved up the ramp.
She stopped and turned to look at him. "Did you want to be alone with her?"
Hiead stopped in front of the Ingrid. "As if your presence would make a difference."
"Shall I leave you, then?" she asked, apparently choosing to ignore the insult.
"No. I have some demands."
Any other Repairer might have given him an odd look at the very least. Kazuhi merely stared at him expectantly.
"The Ingrid isn't meeting my needs. It must be faster…stronger…better."
"You want me to make her more like Ernn Laties?" she guessed.
"An admirable start, but no," he answered. "I want you to make Omega Kallisto more like all the other Ingrids combined."
Kazuhi blinked. "That will take a considerable amount of time, Hiead-san."
"Then you'd better get started, hadn't you?" Hiead reached up and carefully ran his fingers across the Ingrid's dark armor. "I want to unleash her true power."
"Hers, Hiead-san? Or yours?"
He looked at her over his shoulder. "Would it matter to the designs?"
"Yes," she said simply.
"Do you have any love for the Victim?"
"No."
"Then build something that will eradicate them." He began to walk away.
"I must warn you, Hiead-san," Kazuhi said at once.
"Warn me of what?"
"What you have asked for will cause a severe drain on your EX. In fact, it would draw all its power almost exclusively from your EX. Is this acceptable to you?"
"If it will allow me to destroy the Victim more efficiently, do it." With that, he left her.
Kazuhi stared at his back for a moment, then turned to begin the extensive remodeling of Omega Kallisto.