Hello again! If I get past this chapter, it will mean the longest story I've ever posted on I'm gonna be so proud if I make it! And then I'll be running three more accounts on three other fanfiction/original work sites! My bio page has a new section as you have probably all seen, Mika and Sadie's Newsboard. All updates, story status, authoress news, birthdays, and such will be posted there for your enjoyment! Hooray!
After this story is over, I will host a question and answer session! You can submit up to five questions, and I can tell if you're the same person. Any question will be taken! Like Sadie was asking me on the phone why I did so much 002-bashing, and then I asked if she would call Joe. She didn't cause we don't have his number! But still, we decided to host your questions because my betas are more observant than I am. Well, no. I knew all the bashing and pairings going on, and if you're watching close enough, you can see them too! Whee!
Because the Kazumis use nicknames a lot, here they are! – Genevieve (Gene), Hideki (Kei-kun), Haruna (Haru), Haruka (Ruka), Elyon (Elle), Tamaki (Tama ((-chan))), Kiyoshi (Yoshi), Midori (Mi-chan), Hana (Na-chan), Michiko (Michi)
Do any of you know where to buy the 13-inch action figures of Cyborg 009? I'm serious. I want them all! (But I don't own Cyborg 009) I don't own the song 'The Magnificent Seven', the composer Bernstein does. CLASSICAL MUSIC JUNKIE RIGHT HERE!
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The Cyborg Children
Chapter Twelve: The Magnificent Seven
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"You're going to fight them again?" Genevieve asked one of her youngest sisters. "Is that what you really want to do, Mi-chan? You've…"
"Gene, I must. I'm not going to kid around right now with you. When they gave those to me…I joined the rebellion, eleven years ago. It seems crazy, I know, why didn't they take you? Oh well. Later!" Midori called as she raced out the door.
"Wishing for her death to come again?" Haruna asked from the couch. "I wonder if they made a mistake by taking her."
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"I CAN'T USE SYNTHESIS!" Zero bellowed at Jet. "I WOULD HAVE USED IT BY NOW, WOULDN'T I?"
Celeste lay motionless on the ground, face down. Zero had taken to protecting the defenseless girl from 0010's attacks.
Someone's cell phone started to ring. 0010 pulled it from one of her pockets and swore in Japanese at whoever it was.
"Sorry to cut this short, but we have to meet with some executives," 0010 said. "Come, 0031. We'll be back soon enough, don't doubt it."
With that, the two left. Zero dropped down to pick up Celeste, who was considerably wet and seemingly gasping for air.
"I'm sorry for yelling at you. It's just…I was so mad. 0010 can't control her anger and likes to funnel it into me. I can't synthesize with either of them because they have more advanced technology. Just ask Midori, she's part of this mess." Zero said.
"I missed the whole thing?" Midori asked. "Oh, and about that. I'm 0014. When I was born, my father took me with him. He turned me over to Black Ghost, who instantly picked up on cyborgs again. Thus is how I became 0014. I came here when I was four. And to this day, I don't know any idiot who makes a cyborg that gets hungry."
"At any rate," Florence said. "Let's get back indoors. It won't be a very good idea to stay out here much longer."
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Florence was sitting in an adjoined living room where there was a piano, but she couldn't convince her fingers to move across the keys. Her fingers were poised over the keys, ready to move, but every time she tried to play, she would just start to cry. Julia sat listening to her headphones in the corner.
"Can I try playing?" Julia asked.
"Do you play an instrument?" Florence asked, wiping her tears from the keys.
"Believe it or not, I play violin. But…right now…it feels like a slum. Nothing seems to be right. I don't want to open up to my…" Julia started.
"I don't want to reconnect with my parents after this," Florence said for her. "Would you like to come with me? I'm going to see if Liana has anything to eat."
Julia bobbed her head and turned off her music. Florence stood and helped Julia up, and then they ventured off to the kitchen.
Liana stood decorating her cheesecake from earlier. When Florence and Julia entered, she turned around and beamed at them.
"Well, if you want anything to eat, there's a ton," Liana said to their unspoken question. "I made way too much,"
Florence looked in the refrigerator. "You weren't kidding, Liana. Did you have any help?"
"Heck no! I made it all because I'd start crying otherwise. It keeps me occupied. And it means my dad can't come in and bug me. Help yourself, do, do!" Liana urged.
"It looks like bakery meets Chinese restaurant in there!" Julia exclaimed. Liana smiled at her.
"Maybe you can take some down to Grandpa and Celeste!" Liana said, and squirted herself on the face with white icing from excitement.
Florence's face darkened. "Mmm-mmm. Grandpa, Aunt Francoise and Uncle Joe have been down in the Dolphin with her for hours now, trying to wake her. Zero's probably with them; I haven't seen her lately."
Liana's face dropped. Julia's eyes welled with tears, the first time that Florence had seen her do such.
"It's my fault!" Julia cried. "If only…"
Florence hugged Julia. "Julia. It's not your fault. You're in bad shape as is, and if you'd been shocked, you'd probably be dead. You think you went through grief? We all did. It's fine, just cry."
And as Julia cried, a lone tear fell from Florence's eye. Julia looked up and wiped it away. Her own tear-stained cheeks raised in a soft smile, as Florence understood what was going on. They were sisters, maybe not by DNA, but they were certainly sisters. All of them were: Celeste, Julia, Florence, Sophia, Liana, Angelina, and Rene were all sisters, and Ivan was their one brother. The two watched it bloom in the other's eyes, smiling ever so slightly as it appeared there.
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Issac shook his head as he looked at a monitor. Zero was sadly listening to his thoughts, trying her hardest not to start bawling. It was hard to, especially after listening to the various girls' thoughts. She sat on top of the Dolphin, which was housed in a cove under the Kazumi mansion.
Celeste was lying down in the Dolphin's infirmary, watched by both her parents. Her fevered sleep was, at the very least, free of dreams of any sort. Odd, that the sleep she needed so desperately was the only thing that held her from being well. As she had been sitting in the rain, she had come down with a cold. But when she was shocked, her body took that ahead and tried to repair the damage to her nervous system first.
"We're not going to get anywhere until her fever breaks, and that won't be for a while," Issac said, breaking the shattering silence. Angelina poked her head in.
"I've been here the whole time, Grandpa. Is there anything at all I could do to help?" Angelina asked.
He shook his head no. Angelina sighed, then vanished, probably to return to her computer.
"I'll return and tell the other girls, they have a right to know," Issac said. "Will you remain here?"
"Of course we will," Joe replied. Issac turned and left, and the door shut behind him.
"This reminds me of you, Joe. I remember when we fought 0010," Francoise said gently as she wipe sweat away from Celeste's face.
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"I'm just hacking Black Ghost's last resort," Midori said to Sophia. "Angelina is back at your ship thingy, helping me. They set up so many firewalls! Ready over there?" ((try and imagine her like Ed from Cowboy Bebop, it's funny))
A small window with Angelina in it popped up. Angelina had the data scanner on, but she was smiling mischievously. "I'm set over here, Midori. How fast are you?"
"Rapid fire sound appealing?" Midori asked, clicking open new windows. Sophia was impressed.
"You take five walls and I'll take five!" Angelina responded, face set to seriousness. The two girls made machines look slow as encrypted data flew across the screen of Midori's laptop, then only to be changed into a new stream of codes. Sophia watched Angelina's face change in the glow of her screen.
After about twenty minutes of watching the two work, Sophia meandered off to do something else. Zero wasn't around, Liana was turning woes into sweets, and Julia was….
Well, let's see what Julia was doing.
Florence, Julia, and Rene were having a game of War. Sophia watched them, but it was almost as boring as watching Midori hack.
"Wanna play?" Julia piped up. "Come on, it's fuuuuuun!"
"Are you sure you should be even moving around?" Sophia asked, hauling the ottoman over so she could sit with them.
"Why?" Julia asked. "What happened to me aside from my right leg?"
"I'd rather not be the one to tell you," Sophia replied.
"TELL ME!" Julia demanded.
"Do you remember when you fell?" Sophia asked softly. Julia turned her head, confused.
"When was that?" Julia asked.
"When you fell," Florence continued, "Grandpa thought you weren't going to live. He said that even if you did…you probably wouldn't be able to see. That may have been wrong, but you…"
Julia ran one of her bruised hands over the left side of her face. She squeaked in pain as she reached her eyebrow, and followed it down to her neck.
"What happened to me?" Julia asked, frightened. Her hands ran over her arms, and she cried out in pain. "H-h-ow did t-t-his happen? When? Who?"
"We were fighting Black Ghost – you remember that much?" Rene asked. Julia nodded. "It was during that when you decided you had enough, and tried to throw Black Ghost away like the rubbish. After you did, sadly, he threw you down through the ground, and I suppose you passed out during that period."
"When we came here, Julia, please understand this, they thought you were dead. And when you were with us again, we heard the truth. You remember, Celeste went out and cried. Well, she went out and cried because she thought this whole thing was her fault. She blamed herself for what happened to you. That's the full story, Julia." Florence explained.
"That explains that dream…" Julia said quietly.
"Dream?" Florence asked.
"Last night she had dream she killed all of us," Julia replied. "Now I can see why. She was stressed out. I feel so bad! This stinks!"
And the four girls sat there, talking like they'd known each other for forever and a day. It was a change, in many ways for them. For one thing, they all could look at the other and wonder who it was, and yet feel so comforted by the fact that they knew them. What was it that made them so…close, so suddenly?
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Five hours later, at six o'clock at night, Liana came flying out of the kitchen. Her arms were laden with lavishly decorated sweets: cakes with intricate frosting flowers, pies suitable for the cover of a cooking magazine, perfectly shaped eclairs with delicate decorations, pudding that appeared like it did on those Jell-O boxes, and splendid chocolates that could send even Martha Stewart and Betty Crocker packing.
"Ummmm…did you make all this?" Tamaki asked as Liana whirled into the living room.
"Yes, of course I did! What do you think I did, drove to the bakery and bought it for fun?" Liana responded, snappish but utterly pleased. Tamaki pulled out her sketch pad and began to draw the mountain of baked goods.
"Okay, who wants to come with me to buy more?" Elyon asked, swinging a pair of keys around. "We're going to need more flour, sugar, eggs, butter, milk, confectioner's sugar, and…liquid cement? Oh wait, Mi-chan put that as a prank. So, anyone coming with me?"
"Mi-chan is coming!" Midori called. "Can I take my laptop, Elle?"
"If you must. Come on, let's get out to the car!" Elyon shouted in reply. Midori came out of the adjoined living room, laptop in one arm and typing with the other hand. Elyon took out an umbrella and dashed out into the rain, followed by Midori.
"You can eat it, I didn't use cement," Liana said. "Here, I'll go get some plates and forks!"
Hana grinned peevishly. Tamaki looked around as Liana left, then swooped down and grabbed three of the chocolates. Florence eyed it, then dipped her finger into one of the two bowls of pudding.
Putting it simply, they were experiencing heaven via Liana's cooking.
In only an hour, all present in the living room had devoured the surplus and their stomachs were now pleasantly stuffed.
"Shouldn't Elyon and Midori be back by now?" Rene asked worriedly.
"You have a point," Tamaki said. "Okay, who wants to use the other car to hunt them down? No, I can't drive legally, but I know how. Elyon taught me last week!"
"Don't do it!" Angelina shouted. "I just saw what happened! Midori…they…"
"Calm down, Angelina." Florence said, worry controlling her German voice. "Now, what happened to Elyon and Midori?"
"They've been KIDNAPPED! Midori tried to break free with her accelerator…but they've got all the hacked information!" Angelina exploded. Tamaki's face turned from surprise to shock.
"All of you. Get your blasters. I'll take mine. Tell your parents we're leaving to rescue them, and if they want to drive, they're welcome to. We have seven more cars. Angelina, Liana, you two tell my brothers and sisters to stay here and go into phase three. This time they've gone to far." Tamaki commanded. The girls ran to their tasks, most unwillingly.
So in ten minutes, a crowd had gathered in the underground driveway. Tamaki handed out keys to Jet, Madison, Joe…
"Uncle Joe, why are you coming? Shouldn't you stay here with Celeste?" Florence asked.
He said nothing in return. He accepted the keys from Tamaki.
So Tamaki gave the remaining keys to Albert, GB and Amanda. Genevieve stood watching, in her sweater and all. Haruna and Haruka had declared themselves too young to command, so they told Genevieve and Hideki to control lockdown. They were riding with Tamaki to make sure she didn't kill herself.
"Tamaki! Hang on!" Hana cried, running down a short set of steps and launching herself onto Tamaki. "Take me, I can track her. Her signal is still pretty strong, so let me come! That way you can communicate with the other cyborgs from car to car!"
"What do you mean, Na-chan?" Genevieve demanded, grasping her second youngest sibling. "Hana Hoshi Kazumi, what the hell do you mean?" ((Hana's name translates literally into "Flower of the Stars"))
"I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I MEAN!" Hana screamed. "I'M 0017! DIDN'T YOU EVER WONDER WHY I DIDN'T COME HERE UNTIL I WAS THREE?"
"Go then. If you run into 0010 or 0031, be sure to call back here. Take my cell, I don't need it." Genevieve said quietly and deadly serious, handing Hana her cell phone. "May the Gods be with you. Please return safely, all of you."
They got into the cars as Genevieve waved to them, worry clenching her heart. As Tamaki sped out in the lead, she turned and walked back inside. I'd better tell everyone about Hana. I can't imagine why she hid it…
"They said to slow down, Tama. And I can't say I don't blame them!" Hana said. Tamaki was driving well over the speed limit, causing her sisters to hang onto whatever they could for support. "I need to tell Elyon that you're crazy!"
Out of nowhere at all, Zero landed in their car. "Oh, hello 0017. Nice to see that all's normal, ne?"
"By what is normal?" Hana asked. "Yes, in training, this would have been level point five. But okay, two of my sisters are missing. One is a crazy cyborg who screws with html coding and the other is a good until mad girl with Gene's favorite car. I don't care about the car!"
"HEADS UP!" Tamaki shouted.
"What?" Haruka demanded, rolling down her window. "Tama, what's so urgent? Did we finally catch a hanyou?"
"Keep dreaming, we caught Mi-chan's laptop, Ruka!" Tamaki said. ((I, for some bizarre reason, have the urge to call Haruka Almond Roka…xD;; ))
Above the motorcade, hanging from a tree limb, was Midori's laptop. It was throwing off sparks from disconnected cords, threatening anyone stupid enough to touch it with a shock. Hana got ready to jump out and grab it.
"Wait, let me put the roof down." Tamaki said, then pressed a button. In seconds, the car had turned into one sporty little convertible. Hana stood up and jumped to reach the branch, then grabbed her sister's laptop. After she had done that in record time, she jumped back down into the moving vehicle, coming quite close to dislodging Haruna's head.
"They've got her laptop!" Florence called out her window, signaling Angelina in the car behind them.
It was bizarre ((word of the week! SORA, STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND YOU WON'T DIE! :pulls out her tranquilizer gun and gets her sister away: )) how a group of seven cars wasn't noticed, but then again, it was was pretty desolate. Hana looked at the abandoned power plant as they drove by it for any sign of Elle and Mi-chan.
When Hana didn't see them, she picked up one of the sparking wires. It wrapped itself around her finger and Hana's green eyes swirled until they were nothing but vortexes of green. Tiny numbers and letters were mirrored in her eyes as if she and the computer had become one entity. Absentmindedly, she pressed keys.
The wire fell slowly and unwrapped from Hana's finger. "I've found why 0010 and 0031 are so hard to beat."
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Midori tried to communicate with Hana, but it was impossible to try. Hana had closed her mind off from anyone or anything.
"Would you like to try communicating again, 0014?" 0031 asked.
0031 looked to be about Elyon's age. 0031 had silvery hair and garnet eyes, and wore a baby blue t-shirt, denim miniskirt, and silver spray-painted elevated sneakers. On her wrists were at least a dozen silver bracelets, on her arm was a royal blue armband, and around her legs were several silver bangles. She laughed murderously.
"If you wish to have your precious sister returned safely, then stop your desperate attempts at communication!" 0031 called, flying up over the sea. Elyon was hanging in her arms, unconscious, bleeding, and ready to fall out of 0031's arms into the sea. Midori bit her upper lip and let out a squeak of discomfort.
"Go ahead, we dare you." 0010 smirked, then ignited a set of rockets on her feet and flew up to meet 0031. Midori squeezed her eyes shut and tried to communicate with Hana again.
(Hana! Na-chaaaaaaaaan! Come on!) Midori called desperately.
(What? What do you need? Are you alive? Is Elle all right?) Hana demanded.
(No to all above questions if you don't HURRY!) Midori answered, sending Hana an image of her surroundings. It was a pier.
(We're already coming, so just wear 'em out for us,) Hana said. Midori broke the connection.
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"SHOVE OVER, TAMA!" Haruka ((or Almond Roka, whichever you prefer)) screamed, seizing the steering wheel. Tamaki wasn't in the position to change so suddenly with her sister. As it ended out, Haruka was sitting on her lap, flooring the car for all it could put out. Her ponytail flew out wildly in the wind, for the rain was reduced to a drizzle.
"You two are BOTH insane!" Hana squeaked as they drove. Zero, Hana and Haruna were clinging to each other in the back seat for dear life, and I certainly wouldn't blame them.
And then it struck the squabbling car of siblings and Zero where they were. They were at a large pier with hundreds of small tables; most likely is also served as a fish market. It was a quaint setting: the orangish glow of streetlamps flickering to life, the navy blue water splashing gently, the screeching cars…
Tamaki reached her leg down to slam the breaks while Haruka invested in simply turning the car off. For far above them were 0010, 0031, Midori and Elyon, hovering above the sea.
Zero had to put up a forcefield to keep the other cars from being bumper cars.
Hana took the cell phone out of her pocket, but didn't need to dial a number in. It was ringing, holy cow. She pressed "TALK".
"HANA HOSHI KAZUMI, TELL ME YOU'VE FOUND THEM!" Everyone heard Michiko's tiny voice magnified by about ten. "Gene is having a hissy-fit! Yoshi just….um, well, have you found them?"
Genevieve came on, trying to sound relaxed and calm. "Hana, do you see any out-of-place objects near by?"
Hana looked up, down, and all around. "Nope. Unless you're count—"
They heard Genevieve give a loud shout of "THEY HAVEN'T SPOTTED HER YET!", and then her voice went back to normal. "When you do, buzz back here and let us know. For some reason, their ship went missing a while ago with Mister Gilmore on it. Well then, ja mata ne!"
For a second, Julia and Liana looked at one another like 'Celeste woke up and decided to chase after us', then smiled wickedly. Liana took four unfrosted cupcakes from her pocket.
"Why did you bring cupcakes?" Haruna asked.
"Get 0010 or 0031 down here and I'll show you!" Liana called back, pulling out her blaster and aiming for 0031.
"Please, don't do that!" Midori shouted, zooming down as she saw five blaster rays. "She has Elyon up there, ready to drop!"
"Time to give 0010 a taste of her own medicine, then?" Florence asked, voice lined with venom. She set her blaster to the needle setting and fired away at 0010.
"Midori, could you fly me up there, by any chance?" Liana asked, her voice possessed.
"Sure, but why, Mi-chan wants to know," Midori responded, lifting Liana from the ground with a small whoosh.
"Sweet revenge!" Liana shouted into the damp twilight, hurtling one of the cupcakes and hitting 0010 square in the noggin. "Wanna try your aim?"
0010 was rubbing the back of her head where the cupcake had struck. "What the heck did you put in those things?" Julia shouted from down below.
"LATER!" Liana shouted back. "Midori, I'm going to aim at 0031. Once I hit her though, you have to get Elyon. Okies?" She then whispered.
"But…what am I going to do? Oh wait, Mi-chan knows. Na-chan will catch you, yes she will." Midori answered, smiling at the plan.
In response, Hana flew up to about half their height. "This had better work!"
Liana took aim with her cupcake from hell at 0031's head. It hit her perfectly on the left ear. Midori let her fall, and then briefly accelerated to get Elyon as 0031 let go to nurse her ear. Hana caught Liana, then descended again and let Liana jump about three feet to the ground.
"NOW will you tell us what you put in those?" Chang asked her. She smiled.
"I said it was sweet revenge," Liana responded. His eyes popped.
"I TOLD YOU TO STOP MAKING DISHES WITH CEMENT! YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO BE AN ACCOMPLISHED COOK LIKE I AM IF YOU KEEP THAT UP!" Chang exploded. Julia and Jet choked down laughter.
"IT WAS EFFECTIVE, WASN'T IT?" Liana roared back. "I DON'T SEE YOU TRYING TO HELP DESTROY THE ((CENSORED!)), YOU SHORT-ORDER COOK!" She jabbed her finger into his nose.
"So as you can observe, Mi-chan wasn't the one who put liquid cement on Elle's shopping list. I should start baking those in case Gene ever gets any ideas, though…" Midori said thoughtfully as she swooped back down with Elyon. There was a cut on Elyon's right temple that was bleeding something fierce. Zero tried to heal it.
"YAI!" She bellowed, jumping away from Elyon. "WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER?"
"Ah, Project Zero. You brought your friends back for another…shocking encounter," 0010 hissed. ((more bad puns, courtesy of Mika in the Hat))
Julia fired her blaster on the blaster setting. "YEAH, WELL GOOD LUCK GETTING RID OF US THIS TIME!"
And then, something totally randomly brilliant happened to come in out of the murky sky.
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"Go fish, Yoshi!" Michiko squeaked. Her onii-chan drew a card from a pile.
"Haven't they called yet, Gene?" Hideki asked. "This is the fourth game of Go Fish we've played."
Genevieve was camped out next to the phone, waiting for Hana to call. "Not yet. I wish they would, Kei-kun. There's six of them there. I'll be damned if she calls in the next five seconds."
"Gene, you cursed!" Michiko wailed. The phone gave a loud ring. Genevieve blundered as she picked it up.
"Hana! Are all of you alive? Are you hurt? What about Midori? Elyon? WHAT'S GOING ON?" Genevieve yelled into the receiver.
"It's not Hana, onee-kun. It's Mi-chan. Now Mi-chan is wondering – how fast can Gene get here?" Midori replied.
"Why, Midori?" Genevieve demanded.
"Well, says Mi-chan, this big weird flying thing showed up all of a sudden. Mi-chan was going to tell you to just come here and forget the speed limit, but…" Midori said.
"We're coming, then." Genevieve snapped, then hung up. "Get your coats and meet me in the garage in five."
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"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!" Julia roared in delight.
For there above them, firing missiles, no less, was the Dolphin. But who was piloting it? It wouldn't be on autopilot right now, since none of them were around to set it.
One word clicked into the girl's heads: Celeste.
And sure enough, the warcraft landed. A tiny figure stood up on the top, hair flying in the wind. Midori's green eyes blinked in complete unison with Haruna's eyes. Julia and Florence looked like they were having a contest on who could make a more surprised face. Sophia and Zero wore identical looks of mixed joy and rage. 0010 and 0031 looked more murderous than ever.
"Celestia, is that you?" Julia shouted.
The figure slid down and began to slowly walk toward them. Zero's eyes grew to the size of hubcaps as the figure stepped into the light.
"Celeste, why the hell are you awake? It's one thing…" Julia said as Celeste stepped into the orange glow. Celeste's brown hair was held from her face by a white headband, and she wore only a pair of flared jeans and a pink t-shirt that said '1-Up'. On her feet were her backwards-laced shoes.
"It's fine!" Celeste said quietly. "I'm returning your favor."
"But you shouldn't be awake," Julia complained. "It's two separate things, being out for two days and being out for maybe twelve hours! Go, we'll take of these goons!"
At that point, everyone but 0010 and 0031 were aware of who it was.
"Here, at least let me take some of it away," Zero ordered. She tried to heal Celeste like she had Elyon. "YAI! HOLY ((MAJOR MAJOR CENSORED!))! What's going on?"
"It's them," Hana muttered. "They're preventing you from healing. That's not the worst part. They can…"
"I KNOW!" Zero exclaimed. "Celeste, you're going back inside. All junk aside, you look like crud."
"I don't care," Celeste answered. "Julia and Uncle Jet. You two fly and aim at 0010. I'll fire with you. Zero and Daddy, you two accelerate and hit 0031. Florence and Rene, you take 0031. The rest of you, have fun."
Julia smiled. "There's the Celestia we know and love!"
"Right!" Celeste said with a lot of effort. "And…get ready…go!"
0031 looked all around for the two things that hit. Zero and Joe were already on the ground, laughing to themselves. Jet and Julia were flying and firing at 0010, who was getting most of the bullets. Then something snapped into Zero's mind.
"EMMA SAYS STOP!" She bellowed. Everything stopped. Zero walked out onto the sea and used her ice to freeze about the size of a skating rink on it. "Emma says go!"
Celeste looked delightedly at the ice. A pair of ice skates appeared in front of her.
"If you can, and I mean only if you can," Zero said. Celeste pulled off her shoes and put on the skates. Zero helped her out onto the ice.
Celeste was at home on the ice. She skated in a small circle, and then the circle grew larger. In her hand was a blaster, which was currently set on its blaster setting. 0010 noticed her after about five minutes of circling.
"Ah, so you're still alive. Maybe I can fix that." She sneered, aiming her volts at Celeste.
If Celeste hadn't been a fast skater, she would have met her death on that spot. She had instead skated in reverse, and 0010 cursed when she saw she had missed. Celeste smiled and continued, breathing heavily. 0010 aimed again, only to miss a second time.
Celeste was showing signs of wearing out with each stroke of her skates. Julia decided it was time to show 0010 justice. She took aim with her blaster on the magnum energy setting and fired. 0010 blocked it with a forcefield and fired with her lightning again at Celeste.
"You don't get the picture, do you?" Celeste asked, swerving to avoid the attack. 0010 didn't take it well and fired again. Celeste was having more and more trouble keeping up and narrowly missed being fried. She raised the blaster and fired at 0010. 0010 tired to fry the teenager once again.
Julia and Florence both saw what opportunity had reared its head. "FIRE ON BLASTER MODE RIGHT NOW!"
Eight blaster rays sliced through the rain and struck 0010. She unleashed a mighty cry and plunged into the icy waters. Celeste stopped skating and faced them, beaming. Her pink shirt was soaked with sweat and rain. 0031 was coming down fast now that her comrade was gone.
"Not again," Celeste moaned.
"Then come on!" Zero shouted, flying over and picking her up. "You're going to be going to sleep!"
"Not if it means leaving them here!" Celeste complained.
"You're hopeless, Celeste. Fine, have it your way." Zero replied, setting Celeste on a crate from where she could observe. "If you move again, I will personally nail you into that bed so Mister Gilmore and Miss Francoise can get you better. Am I clear?"
"Yes, o mighty Zero," Celeste grumped. Zero gave a loud "humph" then went to join the others. Then Julia came into her view.
"What are you, my second mother?" Julia demanded as Zero picked her up and flew her off with Celeste. "Zero, you are the world's biggest party pooper, you know?"
"Oh well. Complain to Aunt Amanda for having Sophie get me down from the hanging plant when I was four." Zero answered blankly. "Don't forget I can make your lives torture or just plain and simple, depending on if you get up. Ja mata!"
"Ja mata ne!" Celeste glumly called back.
Midori was already flying and pelting attacks at 0031 by the time Zero got back. Zero sighed and melted the ice. She then made more ice into sharp daggers and sent them flying at 0031, who simply put up a forcefield. Zero cursed at this.
0031 spun in a complete circle and threw her arms out, looking very much like a diva or something of that sort. Her silver hair fluttered in the wind, which had suddenly picked up. Zero's hazel eyes grew wide with shock. Rain came to beat down like sharp pellets and soon became large chunks of hail. 0031 laughed and flew to attack the girls down below. Haruna and Haruka looked one another straight in the green eyes, which were filled with regrets of teasing their onee-chan. Ivan held up his hand just as 0031 was about to hit and a forcefield sent her flying backwards.
"You ruddy little mutt," She growled, voice low and dangerous. "Let's see you block THIS!" Flames danced around the crate where Celeste and Julia sat. Zero gave 0031 a look that could kill.
"You're about to eat your words," Zero hissed, zapping the gleeful 0031. 0031 dropped to the ground, only to pick herself back up again.
"Shoot," Sophia whispered.
Everyone misinterpreted her speech. In their desperate struggle, Julia and Celeste fired at 0031. Everyone else with a blaster or gun fired also at the cyborg, including Midori, Hana, Tamaki, Zero, Albert and Joe. As 0031 tried to rise again to command her storm, Julia and Celeste's blasters shot off her left leg. She fell to the ground.
"We can kill you the easy way," Zero said, holding one of her ice blades. "Or we can drag it out for as long as possible. Release my friends and get rid of this storm so you can have a good rest."
0031 feebly held up her arm and waved it. The flames died off around the crate. Celeste and Julia hopped down and ran over, receiving looks of mixed emotion from Zero. 0031 snapped her fingers and the rain was reduced to a drizzle again, and the winds returned to its earlier gust.
"Good night, Rachel. I hope your end is kind to you." Zero said to 0031.
"As I to you, Emma." 0031 muttered.
"Farewell," Zero said. 0031 laid her head back down and disappeared. "Celeste, I warned you!"
Celeste swore in Japanese rapidly. Zero shook her head and smiled.
"I won't nail you anywhere! And yes, I did climb into one of the hanging plants when I was four. Sophie had to get me back down." Zero said airily. She noticed Elyon, who was lying asleep in Hana's lap.
"Well, it's over now. Let's…" Celeste said, but was interrupted.
There was a car sliding down the slick dock toward them. It stopped about a yard from Hana, and Genevieve unfolded herself from the passenger side ((remember, it's the left side!)) and looked for her sisters. Kiyoshi and Michiko got out of the back seat, looking like they'd had the ride of a life getting over to the pier. Hideki was the last to get out from the driver's seat, and he looked positively harassed. Genevieve's long black hair was tied back into a high ponytail, save for maybe a few wisps in front, and gave her an almost deadly look.
"She nearly killed us getting here," Kiyoshi said.
"I never knew you could ice skate!" Julia said to Celeste.
"There's a lot of stuff you don't know I can do," Celeste said, smiling.
"Interesting…" Angelina muttered.
"Well," Celeste said, sitting down and resting her head on her hands. "We can all go back. It's almost time. We made…"
She never got to say the last part of her sentence because she fainted. And as her father bent to pick her up, he could've sworn there was a smile on her face.
"So we came here at one hundred and thirty miles an hour for nothing?" Hideki asked.
"I'm sorry!" Midori wailed.
"Don't be. It was actually kind of funny to watch Gene get pissed off and yell at me to go faster. Usually she tells you to slow down." Hideki said to Midori, who smiled.
"Now let's go back before…" Zero said. "Oh, forget it. Gene, Kei-kun, and some of you drive back. I'll go with Mister Joe back on the Dolphin. Anyone coming with us?"
"I'll go," Julia volunteered. "Besides, he's been trying to get me back in any case. Someone help me?"
Jet flew her up as the others got into the cars. Zero turned and looked one last time at the pier.
(I'm almost sad to leave it,) Zero said.
(Why? Aren't you happy? You're free!) Ivan told her.
(Yeah, that's fine…but…oh, I'll explain later.) Zero said. She tore her eyes away from the sea and jumped into the Dolphin. Well, they had toppled Black Ghost over. In days, the company would cease to exist and there would be a world without danger.
Zero smirked at herself. Sheez, I wish it was a world without danger. There's still the worst part coming up. There's still recovery. There's still another world of unspoken problems we have to sort out.
"Is something the matter?" Joe asked her. Zero smiled at him.
"Nah, just thinking what I'm going to do with all this free time," Zero responded. What free time? There's not going to be any free time come tomorrow. I'll have to answer all the questions they have. They'll all have to answer the questions we delayed. Like it or not, all of us have to. ((all italics are Zero's thoughts))
I wish we could have solved this long ago. Maybe if we had, the pain from all the battles could have been healed sooner. But none of us was ready to open. None of us were willing to open our hearts. We had closed off to all but the teams we had joined, the teams that had seen us through our pains. It was they; they who watched each other change and grow. The others stood to the side and waited.
My life is screwed. I have no home, no life, to return to. Emma, the true Emma Jessica Hashe, is gone forever. She was gone last year, so why am I so depressed now? Oh, I feel like breaking down right here into tears. Rachel—0031—was the last of the people I knew from when it was only Emma. She was the one who comforted Emma when she cried, she was the one who wiped Emma's tears away. It wasn't me. I was created when the time came for the Megas Project to begin. That was only…my God, it was only four weeks ago.
Ivan…my dear Ivan. He helped us. As we struggled through our problems, he stood and helped us through them. Ivan, if you're listening to this, I hope you know how important you are to me—no, not just me. You're important to us. Without you, we would have exhausted ourselves before we got the chance to really work. My dear, I think you knew me better than my parents did. You watched the girls grow up and knew their molds, but accepted me when I asked for attention. I can never, in my life or yours, thank you enough for all you've done for us. You are the one who knew all the secrets of all our lives. You knew what the war was about. You've been through it twice now. I feel like it's my fault for sending you into it again. Blame me. It's all my fault.
0022 and 0023. Those two probably knew what was going to happen the whole time. They never left their father's side, even though he ordered them to be transformed. I wouldn't be able to feel emotion, had it been me. They stood there and took it. But one night, I saw 0023 crying. It was a single tear, yes, but it was proof. It was the proof that she was still human, the proof about who she really was. I never learned their real names; but then again, I'm a very confused girl. She looked at me and wiped the tear away and ran off to do something with her brother. 0022 was quiet and well minded, except for in battle. I remember hearing from Ivan how he made a costly mistake with Julia, and then made up for it by spraining Julia's wrist. 0022 could fight. I saw how he would go—start off slow and dumb, then pick up the speed and nail them. The two—brother and sister—they never learned to love. They always bickered. One was a bandit; the other was a loyal companion to his father.
The Megas Project—where to begin. I'll start with 001, or Stephanie. Stephanie was like a sister to me, but would never take Rachel's place. Stephanie was kidnapped at her training session in China; she was a world-class gymnast back there. Once she had arrived at headquarters, she was told she was attacked. After a while, she solved the problem for herself. We got along well, despite our age difference. That was why she saved me. Then there's 002, or Michelle. I never got very close to her. She was a really nice girl once you got to know her, but a formidable opponent in battle. 003, Neal, the silent Italian boy, came next. He was quiet, he was good at mechanics, and he had a real thing for 004. Ariana, the jumping bean, 004. She was a sweetheart with a talent in con art. We were on okay terms. Then came Rose, Five-kun, 005, and what ever else she went by. She was quiet like Neal and never really broke free, so I didn't know her. Ah, Kiara, my sunshine, my 006. Australians have a good tag because of hr spirit. She could flip-flop and you'd never tell, because of those darned pigtails. Sam-chan, I'll never forget you, 007. You were a skilled hacker, so skilled, even Midori would be caught in your eye. You and I became friends after a while, but never as close as 001. Mizuki. 008. You were the one I thought would rebel. You were a rebel, no matter where you went. Mage was what you dubbed yourself. And that brings me to Hikaru Raven Mamora, 009. She was a young, free Japanese spirit. We were friends for a short time, but you were tortured for all the emotion. When Emma was banished by Black Ghost, I was truly then Zero. But it didn't make me happy. The only way for me to use the ability banish was to have Emma gone. The ability had been locked for when it was needed…I should explain more tomorrow.
It was my fault that all of them died. They were nine souls, unwillingly taken, but had incredible gifts. Just like Ivan, like me, and like the members of the Cyborg Project. The last cyborg to ever be made by Black Ghost—that was 0010. She was a beast, that girl. Her name was Catherine. There was a fire in her soul, a fire that was set by Black Ghost. That fire was what killed her. The sparks she used were ones they gave her to kill me. I felt like it was my fault she had to leave, and when you think back to the core of the data, it was my fault. I feel so terrible, having all this on me. Wishing it on any one of the girls would be a sin. They've been through so much in only three weeks. I can only hope that they forgive me for being such a problem.
"Why are you still back there? Come on, we're going back in!" Jet called down the hallway. Zero was standing with a blank look in her eyes. "Did you hear a word I said? We're going to leave you out here!"
Zero looked at him and smiled. "I'm coming, Mister Jet!"
It's all ready begun.
-&-&-&-&-
AWWWWWWWWW! That last part took me ages to get right. I know, I know, I said there was no Ivan/Emma. Well, it's Zero, not Emma…but fine, it is basically Emma. I might put it in if enough people ask me to…
We're doing an expository essay on The Pearl in English! I'm happy about it! It has to be 2 ½ - 3 pages long and can be up to 1,500 words! People were looking at me like, "Whoa, what's she doing?" when I got all hyped up. The topics are: greed, stereotypes/roles of men and women, fate/destiny and animal imagery. I choose fate and destiny, and it was one of the challenge topics! Yay! It's fun!
Yes, next chapter will be quite dramatic. Writing Zero's thoughts made me cry, yes it did. Next chapter strips away the thin line between Zero, Emma and 0021. It will also tell why the Kazumi family is so…well, um…battle-style.
In other words, I have a name for my authoress fic! OH YEAH! It was going to be "Rise Over Run", but then I'm all "Wait, that sounds like…WHOA! IMAGES!". So I have a new title that I came up with during music. Well, not invented, but it came to me. No one is going to coax it out of me, and if you're in it, sorry, you have to wait with everyone else. I'll send an e-mail to the eight of you and attach the document once it's done, but the name spot will be BLANK! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FEAR ME, FOR I AM CRAZY!
:In the Mood ((AN AWESOME JAZZ SONG!)) begins to play as Mika dances…who knows why…: