Once upon a time, there were nine magical cyborgs. They were constantly running from an evil organization called Black Ghost. After much torment, they finally toppled the empire of darkness and went their separate ways. Two of these magical cyborgs, named 009 and 003, married and had a baby. They named that baby Celeste Maria. The other magical cyborgs eventually got married. Slowly, months dragged to years. The years slowly stacked up.
Fifteen years had now gone by, and every cyborg had a wife and child. None of the wives or children knew of each other, all but magical 003. She knew all the secrets. But one horrible night, the parents were called by the evil Black Ghost and taken away from their children. The children, not knowing what to do, called their Grandpa Gilmore.
Grandpa Gilmore was of the special sort. He had helped the cyborgs and raised the youngest, 001, who had now grown to be fifteen. When he received their calls, he wasn't very surprised. The children were flown to Japan the next day to finally meet one another. Julia Minorca Link, the child of 002, was impressed. She had only known her cousin Ivan, never these people. The children took the cyborgs' magical multi-use vessel called the Dolphin and began their search. Not long after, they met the new cyborg, 0022. He wanted to destroy them! But the children easily defeated him. Soon to follow, he returned. And he returned after that with project 0023. The child of 007, Sophia Christina Britain, had to fly to England to rescue her cousin Emma.
Once they got there, Emma had already been changed. Emma had become a cyborg, cyborg 0021 in what was called "The Cyborg Project" and 000 in what was called "The Megas Project". Her powers were very many, and she helped the children very much. Then 0022 and 0023 returned, then came 001 of the Megas Project. 001 had taken off in an acceleration mode race with little Emma, and shot her four times. Then, 001 flew the helpless Emma back to the magical Dolphin where she was cared for carefully. Emma altered the past, though, and changed it so she was only shot twice. It was then we met 002, 003, 004 and the rest of the Megas Project. The Megas showed the children that they wanted to help, but were really manipulating them. Ivan, Grandpa Issac, and Emma solved it first, and never shared with the children.
Meanwhile, the captive cyborgs and their spouses remained captive at Black Ghost's new headquarters. They had met the Megas Project and were shocked by it. They had witnessed their children triumph over the evil. But the worst was yet to come…
This chapter will be presented in songfic format, adapted from Shrek 2.
The real world is here! The real life Sadie will be our lead vocal, with the real Joe on piano! :they wave: Rose, Emma and Nina, three separate real people, will be our special effects crew. Last and not least, the real Florence will conduct the orchestra and the real world Julia will be the head of backup vocals! :all wave as they walk out, Sadie in a skimpy red slip dress and stilettos, and Joe in a tuxedo, the others wearing awesome blue dresses:
This is the song part, also tells the speed of the song. ((speed))
"This is the characters talking to one another."
This is the characters thinking to themselves.
(This is the cyborgs communicating telepathically, also used by the Megas.)
((these are the occasional author's notes! I've got to talk too, ya know!))
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyborg 009 or the song "Holding Out for a Hero".
Please, people. For this chapter only, I'm going to ask you a favor. Leave a review that's more than one line long. Tell me what you liked, hated and what you thought was stupid. I need to know! You can tell me even all the stupid junk that I didn't need. I know you can all review!
!!WARNING!!- This chapter gets a little shaky on that PG rating.
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The Cyborg Children
Chapter Nine: One Big Final Hurrah
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((piano playing softly in background)) Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to dedicate this song to…Princess Mika and her new husband, Prince Joe. ((my lovely 009))
Where have all the good men gone
And where are all the gods?
Where's the street-wise Hercules
To fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night toss and turn and dream of what I need
"Hey Julia, why don't you try being quiet?" Sophia hissed into her speaker. She heard a loud harumph from one of the other ends of the piece.
"It's a wonder we're not caught, even in these clothes." Florence muttered, sighed, and sounded like a heap of static.
"Don't worry. I'm sure plenty of the guards that work here are insane, so if we get caught talking, they'll just think us crazy." Celeste said merrily, although the tone was rather sarcastic.
They had successfully entered the base, and broken off into their teams. Not long after, each had abducted a guard and stolen their uniforms, all but 0021 and Ivan. Those two were running their own crusades with keeping everything on track and getting all the codes right. Sophia was halfway down the hall when some tall, macho man came from no where at all.
"SOPHIA!" Angelina barked from the Dolphin. "Don't start gaping! You either, Julia and Celeste!"
For at the same time, rows and rows of guards were crossing the halls. Florence went fifty miles an hour in German profanities and Sophia stopped her staring. Sophia charged full speed down the hall, sadly to bump into another tall man.
"Oops, my bad!" Sophia exclaimed, promptly lifting the man over her shoulder and smacking him home off pure adrenaline. She picked up her pace once more and turned down a familiar hall.
There was a plain door, nothing fancy, just a neat wooden door. There was a keyhole above the doorknob, and there was a voice box.
"Angelina, I'm here." Sophia said. There was the rapid taping of keys and a familiar voice said, "This is Ariana Holly Ghiradelli."
The door swung wide open to let Sophia in. The inside held eight of the prototype cyborgs and their spouses, but none knew that it was Sophia under the baggy black getup.
"What do you want from us now?" Britain asked. "One of us to experiment some more on?"
"That's really interesting, daddy, but I have to get you all out of here right now," Sophia said, laughing a little in spite of herself. She tugged the helmet off and let the blond tresses fall down, leaving every captive left to gape. "Angelina…"
"YOU FOUND THEM!" Eight voices clambered in her ear.
"Yeah, now do I just use my laser setting to get them out?" Sophia asked. "Save it all for when you see them, cause we haven't even gotten them out."
"That's right," Ivan said.
"Back away from the bars, then." Sophia said, taking aim. The laser shot and melted through the bars, freeing the captives. Sophia was given hugs by her parents, then led them racing down through the halls. They ran and ran and ran until…
"Hey!" A guard shouted.
"Stand back!" Sophia shouted. She kept running, then turned it into a series of handsprings to knock the guard and all his buddies out.
"How did you learn to do that?" A puzzled Amanda asked.
"Oh, Julia let me use the shoes. They have steel in them, which knocks them out. The rest is basic gymnastics." Sophia explained, regaining her pose. "Now, come on!"
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" An angry voice demanded, its owner falling upside down from the ceiling. They had red hair that was spiked backward and wore army fatigues.
"Who stole my hair?" Jet demanded, furious at whomever it was hidden under the helmet. The person dropped from the ceiling to stand to her five feet three inches to hug her father.
"Daddy! You're alive! Mommy too!" Julia squealed, hugging her dad and pouncing into his protective arms. He lit his rockets and flew in a spiral with her. She laughed as they came back down.
"Celestia, we're headed your way!" Julia said into the earpiece. The group took off walking, and the children conversing through the microphones.
Soon enough, two more heavily armed guards ambushed from the adjacent halls. They lowered their weapons as soon as Julia brought out her red baton and attacked Albert and Joe with viscous hugs instead. The men took off the guards' helmets and found their daughters' hair piled neatly beneath it. As their hair fell out, they were attacked with their own move.
"We're dreaming of seeing you soon," Rene said with Liana.
"Then we'll be there shortly," Celeste answered briskly.
(When did they become so…) Francoise began.
(Battle ready?) Albert finished for her. ((A/N: BATTLE READY ARMOR! BRA! HAHAHAHA! :rolls around in laughter:))
(I can answer that,) Ivan said sheepishly. (They wanted to have you back so badly, they trained until they were ready.)
The children were ten meters ahead, parents on their fast little butts to catch up. Julia stopped, though, when she reached an arched doorway.
"Angelina, key code please." Julia asked.
"Seven five five three eight six four!" Angelina said back. Julia punched it in and two female guards freed their helmets of their heads and ran to hug Chang and Pyunma. They acted surprised, but saw that it was only their children.
"Why on earth are you all wearing those uniforms?" Britain asked.
"You should know best of all," Sophia said, taking it off. "Acting! We can't be running around in our regular clothes, can we now?"
Suddenly, periwinkle light streamed around them. Once it had stopped, they were all with 0021 and Ivan, who were smiling from ear to ear.
"Angelina, give us the final access code." 0021 said.
"Say hi to my dad and I will," Angelina retorted. Julia took off her earpiece and handed it up to Geromio, who placed it on gently.
"Hello, Angelina." He said. A shuddering breath of emotion filled their ears.
"Hello, dad! Call me again if I'm needed! I'm on the Dolphin right now," The girl replied in her alto voice. Geromio handed the earpiece back to Julia, who put it right back on.
"Are you all ready?" Ivan asked. "This is it. There's no turning back. It's the final boss, the final level, whatever you call it. It all comes down to this battle."
"Give us the code, Angelina." Liana said with utter boldness in her voice. Julia took a deep breath.
"Four six nine seven eight five zero zero nine." Angelina said. The same boldness rang through her voice as Julia tapped out the numbers.
Two large black doors opened with a whoosh.
"Good luck," Everyone said. They stepped inside, butterflies threatening to burst free of their stomachs.
((song speeds up and background vocals join in with all other instruments))
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
"Welcome, welcome, one and all!" 009 crowed from a raised platform. Her uniform was just like the one she'd worn at the circus, except it had gold buttons, black boots and light pink everything else. She jumped down and landed in front of the alarmed Celeste. "Oh, there's nothing to worry about, sweet little Celeste. Hikaru's got it all in the bag."
"Don't fall for it!" Florence shouted. "She's been fooling us the whole time!"
Celeste stopped mid-way on her way to seize 009's hand. 009 gave her a sickly sweet look and Celeste yanked her hand away. In a few seconds, the blaster was out and she was firing at full juice toward 009. Amazing what three weeks can do to a teenage girl, isn't it?
"How did you know that, you silly little girl?" 004 asked, running from the shadows in an original copy of the cyborg prototype uniform. She held her yellow gun toward Florence, and Florence didn't seem to mind it.
"If I could trust you, you would have given us your last names. You all continued denying your loyalty to Black Ghost, my suspicions rose. None of you offered to stay with us, so you must have still been loyal." Florence explained. She smirked with her entire body, then fired her gun.
The darkness of the room was enveloping, and soon, they were blindly fighting off the Megas. All the cyborgs had matched up against their counterpart, and both Joe and 009 were in acceleration mode. Angelina was screaming directions with Issac not far behind.
"JULIA! GET OVER TO THE FAR DOORS RIGHT NOW!" Angelina bellowed, Julia scampering to obey. "Access code four seven three zero five six!"
Julia pulverized the keys and the next set of doors opened. For a minute, the entire room froze with awe. The doors had opened to a burning white room with nothing inside of it.
"Well," 008 said, uniform gray with black buttons, "What are you going to do?"
"Go on!" 0021 urged. "We'll stay back and fight them! Angelina, put a lock on the doors!" Angelina tapped a few keys, and the doors clicked. "Now, go on! What ever it is, it's probably waiting for you!"
007 had just ran up to Julia in hopes to kill her from behind. As soon as 007 came within immediate range, Julia turned around and used an adrenaline rush to knock the cyborg to the earth.
"GO!" Ivan and 0021 shouted together. 0021 became Emma again and turned to continue their fight.
"I'm here if you need me," Angelina said.
The girls congregated and looked one another in the eyes. They looked into the blazing white and stepped inside, leaving their parents and cousins behind to fight down the Megas.
"Oh crud," Angelina murmured. The doors flew shut, leaving the girls trapped inside. An ebony figure descended from pure nowhere, and the girls gasped in shock. It all came down to this one person. The figure turned, showing its bulbous, glowing yellow eyes and rows of pearly white teeth. Julia held her baton at the ready in one hand, gun in the other. Celeste had both hands on her gun, ready to rumble.
It was time for the final battle to be fought.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
Larger than life
"Miss Shimamura, how grand it is to finally meet you," It said.
"Back away slowly and I won't kill you," Celeste snarled, face twisted into fury. Julia was a step ahead, already ducking behind the others and sneaking up to the figure's neck.
"Now, now, Miss Link, we can't have you trying to kill me," The figure said, like a steel bar coated with frosting. Julia cursed him under her breath and slid the baton away from his black neck. "Now girls, you have evidently heard of me. I am the great Black Ghost."
"Oh yeah, and I'm the Amazing Spider-Man," Julia sneered. Black Ghost raised a gun at her, unsure whether to fire this early. Julia found it to be a fine thing to do, and fired on the laser setting. Rene seemed a little surprised to be starting that early, but went along with it anyway.
Julia seemed hell-bent on using the baton, so she once again tried to throttle Black Ghost with it. She pocketed the gun and charged full speed toward the black backside. She made a full lunge with her weight, then captured the neck in her baton.
Black Ghost was suddenly not about six feet tall. He/she/it grew to a remarkable eight feet high, with Julia dangling from her baton. Julia laughed nervously.
"Miss Link, haven't I told you it isn't wise to try and kill people like that?" Super-size Black Ghost asked Julia.
"Hell if I even listened to that," Julia snapped, dropping lightly to the ground. As soon as she did, Liana took it like a cue to fire a regular gun that was concealed in a pocket. Celeste gave an un-Celeste-like smile and performed Julia's edited cheerleading move on Black Ghost.
"Celeste!" Sophia shouted. "Wonderful!" And she seized her chance to attack. It was just guts at the start of their fight that inspired her, so she ran and ran and ran until it turned into handsprings and cartwheels. Her heels slammed Black Ghost's back, which was still super sized. With strength she'd never had before, she jumped and kicked like Julia would have been proud of.
The battle outside wasn't much better off.
"Damn you!" Jet shouted. 002 was flickering in and out of view with her acceleration mode, and had already struck Jet many times with her gun. Jet was occupied with simply catching the girl and pounding her until she had as many scars as he did.
"I grant you, you're pretty strong!" Joe admitted to 009. She flipped her hair back and another acceleration race began.
"I don't care about that! I will let you know when I start to care, which is never!" 009 called back, getting in a single punch.
"I thought 000 told me…" Joe began, firing a newly discovered gun at her.
"I did care before! I pretend to care! I've never cared for anyone before!" 009 screamed, ruby eyes glinting with rage.
"This is so much fun!" 006 squealed, hovering with the help of her purple rockets. Chang was blowing flames at her, but she simply sent them right back with a purple forcefield.
((song continues just a tad bit slower))
Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasy
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a superman to sweep me off my feet
Julia tumbled backwards, the second hour of the fight coming up fast. One last time and then I'll call Angelina, she thought. All the fighting girls already had blood dripping from more than ten places, and Florence seemed to just be sapping energy from it. Julia gathered the last fragments of energy and launched herself at the black figure.
Sophia's help in training was paying off at long last. Julia slid across the floor, then laid back, and kicked up to Black Ghost's jewels. Needless to say, he hardly felt it. Julia jumped up, lifting him up with her. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, giving her all the benefits of an iced mocha. Her hands clung to the black fabric, and her face was knotted into a snarl. Julia looked up into the yellow eyes with no pity at all.
"Farewell," She jeered, drawing him back and sending him flying forward at a shocking velocity. All the adrenaline was gone. The girl was an empty shell with no power at all, leaving her very vulnerable.
Black Ghost stood, brushed himself off, then walked in a stately manner toward the twelve-year old girl. This child was ready for whatever he had waiting for her. But maybe she didn't. He stood close to her, both sets of eyes looking for prey. He picked her up by the collar of her shirt and looked into her green eyes.
"I always win, Julia Minorca. Do not mess with me. You will never destroy me," Black Ghost taunted. He drew her upwards and back, then sent her crashing down through the floor into the bowels of the base. Celeste ran to try and grab Julia's hand, or anything, to haul Julia back up. Julia's shocked green eyes cried out as she fell further away from Celeste's reach. "Now, who's next?"
"I AM!" Celeste roared, her cheerfulness gone. Icy venom controlled her voice now, ready to kill. "You hurt her, I hurt you." The gun in her hands fired freely.
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER?" Emma's voice screamed. She came flying in from the doors on a cloud, fire burning her hair. In her hands was a fainted 003, and Jet was behind her on his rockets with 002 ready to drop down.
"Angelina!" Rene hissed into the forgotten speaker. "You had better get here soon. We need all the help we can get for this,"
"Will do." Angelina replied.
Celeste was beyond description. Her face was burning with the fury of her parents, of her friends, of her cousin, and of her grandfather. The aquamarine eyes long since had passed being lovely, and now they captured Julia's fury. Florence had her tapering fingers wrapped around Julia's baton, twirling it with vigor.
"Let's finish it off!" Celeste roared. Florence sent the baton flying like a boomerang right into Black Ghost's head. Celeste and Rene fired together from opposite sides, shouting directions back and forth.
(Joe!) Francoise gasped. (What were you thinking, teaching her that?)
(Hey! It wasn't me!) Joe replied.
(It was us,) Emma said.
"I know how much you all love Miss Zero's help, but I'm afraid her time has come to leave you now," Black Ghost said, a small keypad in his right hand.
Emma paled. "You wouldn't dare."
Celeste saw the flaw. Emma was occupying Black Ghost, and Black Ghost was paying attention to her.
"All of you," She muttered into the speaker. "Fire right now."
And seven laser shots came, all directed at the black skull. But they were mistaken that anything would happen to him.
Beams of periwinkle light ripped through Emma's body, tearing it into pieces. Emma screamed brutally as she was torn, then her small body was silhouetted by the light, then exploded.
0021 stood in her place, crying tears of regret and sorrow. Then her face turned to hate and rage, and she summoned Emma's cloud back.
"I CAN BRING HER BACK!" She cried out of anger.
"Foolish cyborg, you think you can do that?" Black Ghost teased.
"I damn sure can and damn sure will! Emma isn't dead yet, and she never will be!" 0021 screamed, periwinkle lightning flying from her fingers.
"Julia," Sophia gasped. "Oh no. This is bloody terrible,"
Julia was at least fifty feet down, bleeding enough to dye Florence's hair red. There were so many bruises and fractures; it was hardly even possible to say she was still alive.
"Where is she?" Jet demanded.
"Down," Sophia answered. "Down."
"Crap." He muttered. He fired up his rockets and flew down.
Yes, calling her a mangled mess was being complimentary. The brittle gel had long since cracked and let her hair fall down, and let it be dyed the color of blood. Jet swooped down and cradled her in his arms. A jagged gash ran on the left side of her face from her eyebrow to her neck, bleeding freely. Her right eye was swollen and rapidly turning from purple to black. Several large and deep cuts ran along her arms, legs and chest. There were probably quite a few broken bones, but no one could be sure quite then.
Jet draped Julia's arms around his neck, swung her legs over his right arm and flew right back up to join everyone else.
"Celeste!" Jet shouted.
"What?" She demanded.
Interruption! The Dolphin broke through the top of the building, sending huge chunks of debris down on unsuspecting people. Angelina leapt out once they were close enough to the ground, orange cape billowing behind her. Jet flew toward the vessel, carrying Julia still with extreme care.
001 woke up.
0021's sprinkler service started working. ((rain from the cloud))
((song swells at ultra-fast tempo now, piano solo with lead vocal))
Up where the mountains meet the heavens above
Out where the lightning splits the sea
I would swear that there's someone somewhere
Watching me
The spirit of the newcomer re-ignited the other's worn-down flames. Angelina was ready to burn Black Ghost to embers, if need be. 0021 had the room turning fast into a pool, half a foot deep already. 001 was on her feet, green uniform and all. The other Megas were still out cold.
"How many is quite a few?" Madison demanded, green eyes turning from rage to all-out fury. She stood near where Julia lay in the Dolphin's infirmary, ready to fight anyone who dared near her.
Issac bit his lip. "Are you sure you want to know?"
Madison put her hands on her hips. "No, of course I don't. That's why I'm ready to kill that son of a ((CENSORED!)) for doing this!"
Issac sighed in defeat. This woman was worse than Julia being mad at you was. May as well get it over with now, he thought. "She cracked one of her ribs, a miracle within itself, dislocated her left shoulder as well as breaking her right arm, broke her nose, broke her right foot, and she's twisted her left ankle to an impossible angle. Her neck was only slightly twisted, but it's already been taken care of. Her cuts run very, very deep, especially that one on her face…and I don't know if she'll ever see again."
"But will she be alright." Jet asked. Maybe both had been better off not knowing the truth.
"Hopefully, yes." Issac answered. In truth, with all Julia's problems, the fates were against it happening. "But does she still have the problems from when she was younger?"
Madison jumped a little. "Yes, she still has that ((CENSORED! Man, this woman has a dirty mouth!)) weak immune system. Aside from her eyes being bad, there's nothing else that we need to worry about. Unless is started to rain, which it has."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear any of that," Celeste said. Issac had completely forgotten about the speaker.
The water outside had now reached Florence's knees, and was slowing everyone's motions down. Angelina, although she was hydrophobic, relaxed with the water. It meant that everyone else had too suffer, too.
Black Ghost aimed at 0021, who was flying on a fleet of clouds, controlling the sprinkler system of rain. 001 stood up and cast a green shield of lightning from her hands, not only to protect 0021, but herself.
Everyone received a shock. Liana was pretty freaked out about it, but she'd been through much worse.
"Foolish little girl, what was that for?" Black Ghost asked.
"You never said I couldn't protect my fellow teammates," 001 snapped. "You only said I couldn't work with them."
"Miss Wong, I saved you life, did I not?" Black Ghost was using his honey-coated steel bar again.
"I can't say I willingly traded it in, that I can't. My old life…" 001 answered, not letting her guard down. "I was ready for that. You stole my chance away from me! IT WAS YOUR FAULT I NEVER MADE IT!"
All ((CENSORED!)) hell broke loose at that point. The Megas awakened as one, 002 igniting her rockets and flying up with 006. 006's purple uniform with gold buttons was being torn to shreds, as was the blue uniform with gold buttons on 002. None of them looked very happy, especially 001.
"001, we have awakened to destroy you," 002, 003, 004 and the rest said in unison. 001 let down the green shield to let them attack.
"Go ahead, but I'm not going alone," 001 said with more courage than she had. The Megas flew toward her, ready to cast down the possible rebel.
"HELL NO YOU CAN'T!" 0021 screamed. A blazing pillar fire encircled 001 and her five feet around, going to the heavens. "I get to repay my debt to you now, Stephanie. I'm sorry it's so late on arrival, but the postage was extra."
The Megas all wore tattered rags now instead of uniforms.
"If you wanted that, Miss Hashe, you could have told me earlier," Black Ghost laughed a sickening laugh.
"I've got two words for you that you taught me a long time ago," 0021 said with high amusement riding on her voice. "ACCELERATION MODE!"
The sound barrier was no longer a barrier for 0021. The fire pillar was gone, as was the water. Everything slowed down through the ondango-head's eyes as she moved at the speed of mach five, then pulled the gun from her skirt's pocket. The bullets appeared to come from thin air when she fired, but no one knew it was her.
Black Ghost laughed at the girl's plight. The Megas stood ready to die in the center of the room, 001 debating whether to go with 0021.
0021 took one final shoot before slowing down toward what she though was Black Ghost's head. Her shot was perfect. As she came out of acceleration, the bullet was just about to pierce the black mask.
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
And the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach
Like the fire in my blood
A storm was blowing in outside. 0021 called it inside as the bullet pierced the mask…
And the Megas exploded into beams of their color; Black Ghost standing weakened where they had been. 0021 was showing no mercy to anyone at this point.
They had destroyed Emma Jessica Hashe. Why should she show mercy?
"I want an honest fight with one of the humans," Black Ghost ordered.
"Well, who wants to?" Celeste asked.
"You should," Angelina said. "You have enough energy to power a city. Give him hell from me,"
"Me too," Rene agreed.
Celeste stepped forward toward the person that had killed Julia, according to her. The anger inside her was some Julia would have trouble comparing with.
(Has she lost her mind?) 0021 demanded.
(I don't think so, Emma. She's as mad as Jet is over Julia.) Ivan answered her.
(But what is that ((CENSORED!)) going to do to her?) Joe wondered.
(Hopefully he won't harm her,) Francoise mumbled.
(Fat chance of that happening,) Britain said.
(Aren't you a big help, Uncle Britain,) 0021 said.
"Celeste Maria. I wish to fight you." Black Ghost said.
"No freakin' da," Celeste said.
"I will fight like a human, as will you." He said.
"Guns?" Celeste asked.
"I lay mine down,"
"I don't trust you."
"Guns."
"You've got yourself your death warrant signed, okey-dokey? As soon as one of us is down, the other has won."
"And the one that is down dies?"
"If you must,"
"Have we a deal?"
"Yes."
"All who are here are witnesses to this."
The two stood facing one another, Celeste's yellow cape flying behind her in a strong gust of wind. Joe and Francoise wanted to take her and hold her back, but she'd deny it and go on fighting if they did. Fire raced along her veins, the sound of her heart thumping was in her ears.
"Go, all of you. Get where it's safe." She said boldly into the microphone. "Get into the Dolphin and watch from there. I don't want any of you who didn't want this hurt,"
They slowly obeyed, and the aquamarine eyes watched them the whole way inside to where it was safe. Once they were all in, she turned to face Black Ghost.
"I wish you luck, Celeste." He said.
"As I, to you." Celeste replied. She fired her laser, then took off running. Black Ghost shot at her, but she dodged each and every one. The adrenaline flying through her body enabled her to stoop and grab Julia's lost red baton, then twirled it as Florence had been doing.
"What is she, crazy?" Jet asked in disbelief. He watched as thirteen-year old Celeste sprang over the hole and keep shooting the whole time.
"Not as crazy as Julia was," 0021 said. The storm was starting to turn the white room into a swimming pool again. Celeste sent the baton at Black Ghost like a boomerang as he ran after her, though not quite as fast.
"TAKE THAT!" Celeste screamed, stopping and sucker punching Black Ghost. The adrenaline was still flowing strong, lucky for her. She picked up running again as soon as he stopped, firing so she could easily hit him. He started running again, with only a quarter of the speed Celeste was doing.
He shot.
She took the shoot in her left arm, but kept going. Blood spilled out on the ground, making Florence gasp.
Celeste shot the final round in her gun.
Black Ghost took seven.
Celeste turned and ran back as he fell.
((song slows down to fairly slow dance tempo))
"I win," She declared, holding the blaster to his head.
"So you did…" He said. "Or maybe not!"
"YOU ((CENSORED)) ((MAJOR CENSORED!))" Florence shrieked. A vein throbbed in her temple.
She grabbed her blaster and ran back out to help Celeste, not caring what would happen to her.
"You're down, Celeste. I get to kill you now," Black Ghost taunted.
"WE'LL SEE ABOUT THAT!" Florence roared, firing her laser.
The laser went through Black Ghost's head. Celeste turned and used Julia's cheerleading move one last time, knocking him dead.
"Let me finish this piece of shit off," Jet said. "0021?"
0021 sent ice from her fingers, freezing the ebony figure. Jet flew toward the hole overhead, and flew out to the ocean. There, he dumped the sick son of a ((CENSORED!)) into the icy depths, never to be seen again.
He returned to see Celeste picking up the baton, and swooped lower to pick her up in his arms.
"Hey!" She said, surprised.
"Oh, you're not going to say anything but that to me?" Jet asked, pretending to be upset.
"No, not that. This reminds me of my birthday when you did the same thing." Celeste replied, laughing. "Do you mind if you have a red shirt?"
"Yes, why?" Jet asked. Like he didn't know.
"You know why, so let's go back down now. You have Julia to worry about, not me right now." Celeste said. Jet descended again with her, letting her stand up. She jumped back down into the Dolphin, and he shortly followed her.
"COME ON!" Celeste shouted, dragging her Uncle Jet. She hauled him to the infirmary, where she left him be with Julia, Issac and Madison. Celeste ran off to the control room again, where Angelina was just getting ready for their departure.
"Co-pilot?" Angelina asked Celeste.
"Sure, why not?" Celeste asked, relaxing into the chair.
"Angelina?" Rene said nervously.
"What's up?" Angelina asked, swiveling around.
"Don't look now, but a bomb just went off."
"Shit."
((speed it out to the end at molto rallenando!))
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight
"YOU DAMNED BUCKET OF BOLTS!" Angelina screamed. They were flying at top speed, but it wasn't enough to get away from the clouds of fire that were headed their way.
(Ivan,) 0021 said.
(Yes?) He asked back.
(Let's help them one last time.) She said.
(Take as much as you need.) He replied.
(You too,) She said.
(Why?) He demanded.
(We're becoming one. Get ready.) 0021 said as the two magnetically zoomed together, linking arms. White-hot lightning raced through both teenagers, and they blazed with white light.
Right as the fire was about to capture them, a white forcefield surged around and protected them from the final fire. Angelina didn't slow down, though. She and Celeste kept moving at top speeds.
"There's a…you'd rather not know." Sophia said. "Where'd you put those contacts from when we were in England?"
"Bathroom, take the tracker, and tell 0021 to get you wherever it is. Oh, take someone with you." Angelina replied, finding out about the squadron of jets.
Sophia wasted no time racing to the bathroom and popping the contacts in. She remembered the feeling of having all-around vision, but she didn't welcome the change in vision. 0021 was waiting outside.
"I'll get you onto the commander's jet," 0021 said. "I'm going with ya. I don't really wanna be stuck here with Mister Jet for a while."
Periwinkle light floated down like mist upon the two, then flashed around them. They were standing in a small cargo bay, most definitely not their own. There were a few childish pranks hidden, but not very much else.
0021 kicked down the door to the cockpit. Inside was a pair of pilots, one male and the other female. The female turned around, ice blue eyes flashing with danger.
"Oh crud." 0021 said.
It was 0022 and 0023.
"Hey 0023, would you mind sending the order?" 0022 asked.
"I'm watching this and hating it more and more," Celeste said from the earpiece. "Hurry up and kick the crud out of them!"
"No da!" 0021 said, kicking 0022's head. He flicked a switch and turned to face Sophia and 0021. 0023 laughed.
"You idiots thought everything went up in flames, did you not? Well, that was the entire plan! Destroy Black Ghost, then set off the bomb, chase you down, kill you, bio-bomb the entire planet. End of story!" 0023 exclaimed, throwing aside the pranks. "We're ready to destroy you now."
"I doubt that's ever going to happen," Sophia said, kicking 0023.
"Wonderful!" Celeste shouted. "Knock her out, and 0021, you take on 0022! Come on, we're going to Japan! That's enough inspiration for me to knock 'em dead!"
"Shall we?" Sophia asked 0021.
"With pleasure!" 0021 replied, energetically punching 0022. 0022 tried to grab his gun, but 0021 took it instead and knocked him out cold over the head with it.
Sophia kicked 0023 again, then spun, punched, punched, kicked, kicked and did one final punch. 0023 punched and kicked Sophia once, then collapsed into a red heap.
"Ready to head back?" 0021 asked.
"Not yet," Sophia said. She pressed a button. "To all ships, drop out. Repeat, drop out."
"How about now?" 0021 asked.
"You bet!" Sophia answered.
The periwinkle light came again, returning the girls to the Dolphin.
"Good, there's someone else here. Sophia, get on radar." Angelina commanded, completely immersed in her workings. Sophia sat down at the radar screen and watched it like a hawk.
"Shouldn't it be faster by sea?" Celeste asked.
"Yes, I suppose so. Prepare to dive." Angelina replied.
They dove to the turbulent sapphire waters, gray from the storm. Celeste calmed down a bit once they were a good depth under.
"Is there any caffeine around?" Celeste asked.
"Here," Liana said, tossing her a Coke. "Lots of sugary stuff."
Celeste popped the can open, letting the soda fizz. She drank greedily from the can, tilting her head back to let the froth slide down. After a long gulp, the red can was pulled away from her lips and she wiped her chin on her wrist.
Sophia leaned back, sighing deeply and gazing into the blue beyond. It was interesting to watch since it was always moving about, but it bored her after about five minutes.
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero 'til the morning light
He's gotta be sure
And it's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
"But where will we go once we're in Japan?" Joe asked. "I don't think we should go to Tokyo…"
"We'll see if Kazumi is still there," Issac replied. "The last I heard from him was three years ago. That can change a lot of things,"
Narrow beams of sunlight escaped into the depths of the Sea of Japan, where they were currently located. Between Celeste and Liana, three cases of Coke had been emptied the previous night. Celeste was moving around like a zombie, with Angelina on her computer with the data scanner on.
"There isn't anything we need, is there?" Ivan asked Angelina. She turned to him, pushing the scanner away from her eyes.
"You'd be shocked to see what I found." She replied.
"What?" Ivan demanded, clicking the mouse in hope to click something good open.
"I can't believe you didn't understand why I was wearing this," Angelina mused, pulling the device snug around her head. "As it turns out, the desktop I got this time around was some general's. It's coded, so you have to use the scanner."
"Keep on going," Ivan said. "Was it like 0023 said, was it planned?"
"Yes, it was. They were planning to just bio-bomb as Celeste was fighting, but I guess someone forgot to flip a switch." Angelina explained.
"0021?" Sophia dashed in, panting.
"Yup!" 0021 returned, crawling out from under the computer.
"Come with me," Sophia said.
"Why?" 0021 asked, standing up.
"Julia," Sophia answered, running back. 0021 followed her, no longer looking very happy-go-lucky.
Julia looked dead under all the tubes, with her face white as snow. 0021 wore a grim expression as she saw the kick butt girl fighting for her very life.
"You're going to have to do most of the work," 0021 said. "Shove over, Jet."
Jet moved slightly away from Julia's head, where 0021 then laid her hands. Caked-up blood shed on her fingers and flaked from Julia's scalp as she did. 0021 closed her own eyes and periwinkle light sprang from her fingers.
Periwinkle flicks danced over Julia's various slashes, working to heal them. 0021's neck snapped backwards and her eyes flashed open, beaming like floodlights with periwinkle lightning. Julia's left foot spun around, returning to its normal position. 0021 removed her hands and sank to the ground.
"There isn't anything more I can do," She said, exhausted. "Do you think you know anyone who is another miracle worker?"
"We just might," Issac said.
"But what if…" Jet began.
"I think I know who you're talking about," 0021 said. "Northern Japan?"
"We're there!" Celeste shouted. "Northern Japan is where we are as of right this moment!"
"Shall we ask?" 0021 said.
"I suppose," Issac returned. "Three years can't change much, can it?"
"I hope you're right, for her sake." 0021 said, stroking Julia's hair. "The Kazumi family is who you're talking about, right?"
"Yes," Issac said.
"Then let's hurry, there isn't very much time to loose. 0021 said. "There's not going to be a tomorrow for Julia if nothing short of a miracle happens in under five hours."
"That's all?" Jet asked.
"Unless you want to take a great risk," 0021 said.
"Do it." Jet answered. 0021 dragged her fingers down along Julia; ice flowing from the fingers as 0021 went along. Julia was soon a very green and red ice sculpture, chances of survival minimized further.
"Congratulations, you bought yourself and Julia a little bit more time." 0021 said. "But we still need to hurry."
As 0021 made her way out with all the others, (all but Julia, Madison, Ivan and Angelina) she saw the mansion on the cliff. She'd heard about a mansion on a cliff from Uncle Britain, about a giant robot that attacked while he was there, and how he fought it off single-handedly. Pssshht, yeah right.
The crowd made their way up. At last, they reached the door. Issac stepped up to the bronze knocker and gave it a few hard raps.
"Just a minute!" A voice shouted from indoors, undistinguishable from male or female.
The door creaked open to show a shadow. "Gilmore-sensei?"
I NEED A HERO!