THE GENESIS EXPERIMENT
Part Two of a Five part series
By
Vanguard Ziggy
Author's notes: Okay, this is part two of the story. This story takes place two days after the end of part one. Like the first one, this one will be around thirty some pages, and a little bit more science fiction than the first. There is a lot less history of the system mentioned here too. Hope you enjoy.
Gaignun walked into the hospital room, and stared at Mary, who was lying in bed, with half a body cast on. His heart sank and inwardly he cursed Albedo for attacking the girl just three in a half weeks ago. Secretly he also cursed himself for agreeing to let Mary go into battle with him. He walked next to her bed and gave her a weak smile.
"How's my girl doing today?" he asked, placing a bouquet of Jeai blossoms on her dresser.
"Ribs still feel a little bad," she said in a raspy voice. "Guess that means I won't be laughing for a while. Guess that means no more tickle attacks either." She smiled brightly and winced as her body screamed. She waved him away with her free hand and groaned. "I'm fine, Gaignun. The doctors tell me I should be out in a week or so, though I wish you had sent me to some other place than Ungoliant."
Gaignun sat back and sighed. Neither of his girls, Mary or Shelley, liked this planet. Before the Kukai Foundation had rescued them, a few years earlier from their status as research patients, one of the places they had been brought to was Ungoliant. It was here they were saved. "It was kind of an emergency; we really had to get you to the doctor."
The chipper, blonde woman smiled and groaned again. "I understand, Gaignun." Her blue eyes grew bright as her sister walked into the room and took a chair next to her boyfriend, and her sister. She smiled at her younger sister and nodded.
"You're looking good," she said.
"Well you're the second one to see that," the younger woman said with a stifled giggle.
Shelley smirked and elbowed Gaignun in the ribs. "Have to be the first in everything do you?" Gaignun reached over and grabbed a pillow off of another bed with a smirk of his own, and was about to playfully smack the violet haired woman when the door opened again, and a cyborg entered the room.
He was close to six feet tall, with eyes as red as a stop sign. His body was covered with a silver alloy, the kind that the old battle armor used by the Federation forces during the Hyperspace Wars six hundred years ago. He was bald, and his face was as young as a college student, though that was only the exterior. If you looked deeper at the cyborg, you could tell that he was ancient. He blinked at them, and turned his attention to the two girls. His approach seemed menacing, and Gaignun shot to his feet to defend Mary, but Shelley reached out and grasped his arm.
"Maybe we should leave," the older woman said, turning her gaze down at her kid sister. The blonde woman shook her head violently, turning her eyes on Gaignun. "Hmmm, perhaps you should just leave, for the time."
Gaignun frowned and turned his attention to the cyborg. "What the hell is going on?" he growled, stepping in front of Mary and the robotic intruder. "Look, there's no way I'm going to leave you girls with this thing, what kind of boyfriend do you two take me for?"
The cyborg stopped his approach and narrowed his eyes. "You'd be wise to step aside," he said, his metallic voice echoing through the room. "I'm a lot tougher than I look." His hand reached down and he pulled out a electro-blade from the side of his leg. "I don't want to use this, but I won't let you keep me from an injured friend."
Gaignun's frown grew even deeper. "Friend," he turned to the girls and laid a hand on his hip, "you know him?"
"Why else do you think I'd ask you to leave us by ourselves," Shelley snapped. She turned him around and pushed him out of the door. "I'll call you if we need anything else," she said as she closed the door.
Shion and KOS-MOS walked down the hall of the main apartments, of the planet. KOS-MOS kept very silent as she looked around. The sights and sounds of the apartment were brighter than a casino on Second Miltia. The residents were more than willing to be pleasant to her. Shion, on the other hand had to deal with such vicious stares that each step she took, she would have fallen over dead with a heart attack, could looks kill. The smell of Ungoliant's androids' and cyborgs' hatred towards her was suffocating.
"This seems unrealistic," KOS-MOS told her, abut her feelings after she confided in her. "What reason would the people of this planet have of hating someone they had never met?"
"People hate for many different reasons," Shion said with a sigh. She looked up, and shivered at the sky. Instead of a black night, with bright stars, there was nothing but an ocean of water surrounding the shielded city, with schools of bubbles and fish. It was just as beautiful as the skies she knew, but somehow eerier as well. "History is written in the blood of hate."
KOS-MOS stopped walking half way and frowned, "That is illogical, how can an emotion bleed?"
Shion stared at her walking companion and smiled. These past few months had seen KOS-MOS go from an unfeeling weapon, to slightly human. Just the other day, she even tried to tell a joke. Still there was a long way to go. "Just forget it," she said with a chuckle. "Truth is, Helmer wanted to see us, saying that the Federation was asked by the elder of the planet to help in an urgent matter. That's the only thing that would keep me from leaving the apartment." Shion wasn't afraid of much, save for thunder. Still the idea of walking to the Helmer's meeting room by herself didn't really grab her fancy too much.
She reached up and scratched at her ears, feeling the rings that she had just recently put in right before leaving Amadore. In attempt to bond with her, KOS-MOS had her ears pierced too. Her brother Jin warned her to leave her hands off; that she could get her ears infected that way, but they just itched so darn much. Besides, Jin had a habit of being a know it all jerk.
The meeting room was actually the town hall of the capital city of the planet. It was a huge auditorium, white in color, with around three thousand seats for the many senators and congress persons to sit. Helmer was standing near the podium, where the elder normally stood to address his people. He smiled and waved the two women over to sit down in the front seats.
Shion looked around, and saw many of her friends there already. Jr. sat next to Momo and Ziggy almost to her immediate left. Captain Matthews and most of the crew of the Durandal sat near the middle left section of the room. Randall Fairweather and a small portion of Realian pilots sat near the right back section. The chief science officer of the Durandal glared in the direction of Captain Matthews, never taking his eyes off of him. Though they co-operated in the Amadore incident, the two never really got along. Matthews called Randall an arrogant, self important midget with an attitude the size of a red giant, while the science officer considered Matthews nothing more than a free style liberal redneck that couldn't leave the bottle down if he really wanted to. Shion smirked and sighed. This planet seemed to reek of hatred, even among the humans.
"Where's Gaignun?" Shion asked Jr.
"Visiting Mary," the young U.R.T.V. answered. "I'll fill him in after the meeting."
"He's not coming?" Shion frowned and shook her head. "Not like Gaignun to miss something like this, even if Mary were in the hospital." Then again, she knew he had strong feelings for both the Godwin sisters.
Helmer cleared his throat and walked up to the podium. "Everyone is here that is going to make it, I suppose," he began to speak as the lights lowered. "About three weeks ago, the Federation received a stress call from Ungoliant about the disappearance of certain politicians, both mecha and human from the planet. What's more, as I'm sure you know, there has been a greater stress in relationship between the humans and mecha that live on the planet."
"The humans blame the mecha for the disappearance of their politicians, and the androids and cyborgs are blaming the humans for the disappearance of theirs," Ziggy interrupted. "Am I right?"
"Yes," Helmer said. "And to make matters worse, there are factions that are gearing up for a war. We believe that the U.TIC organization could easily take advantage of this situation, and use the war for profits."
"Or, use it to distract people from a base of operations," Randall said. "I've seen them pull this tactic before on other worlds."
"Don't be a moron, why start a war on a planet you want the Federation's eyes turned away from," Captain Matthews snapped, glaring triumphantly at his "rival".
"Captain Matthews does have a point," Helmer said, much to Fairweather's disappointment. "What he said is especially true when the Federation is already breathing down the neck of this system already.
"Not if they hide what they're doing as a legitimate business," Ziggy said.
"And from what our research has uncovered so far, that might have been what they were doing on Amadore," Randall said with a giant smirk of his own.
"But it seemed like a different organization was behind Amadore," Shion said. "The Black Heaven Unit, perhaps?" She looked at Ziggy who winched at the name.
"They were a religious group or a quasi religious group at best. I can't see them, or their successors trying to do anything business wise, legitimate or not," the cyborg said with a sad tone in his voice.
"Wait a damn minute," Jr. snapped. "If you received this SOS three weeks ago, then why were we not told about it when you sent us to Amadore?"
"It was shortly after you left. Once you landed there, whoever was behind the whole thing on that planet; had our radio communications blocked. So we couldn't tell you. And what was more; we couldn't investigate a blocked radio communications without proof that someone was actually doing anything. It would have looked too imperialistic. At least that's what the Committee decided."
"So we're back to square one," Ziggy said.
"The elder wants us to get to the bottom of this whole situation," Helmer said with a groan. "I know it's a lot to ask, but could you help us out again?"
Shion closed her eyes and breathed deeply. It's as if someone is testing us. Like they wanted us here to see what we would do.
"Well, we're already here," Jr. sighed. "I don't suppose it could hurt to investigate a little."
"Good," Helmer said with a relieved smile. "The elder tells me the humans in your group should be safe from attack and the mecha too, for helping. Just stay away from the west and northeastern districts of the cities. Those are the base capitals of the opposing gangs." He frowned and turned his gaze down to the floor for a moment. The tall, bald, black man stroked his chin, the lights in the room trickling down on his long crimson cloak, "The Cyber Fangs, are the most dangerous of the mecha organizations, cyborg or android, while Human's First is the only human militia on the planet." He stepped down from the podium and looked at the small band of heroes. "I don't think I have to say this, but good luck anyway." He nodded with a smile and walked away from the room.
"Brings the old saying, 'There's no rest for the wicked' to light, doesn't it," Jr. said with his own smile. "You know, just once I would like to think that we could earn a vacation or something."
Tony simply shook his head and leaned back in his seat. "Damn and I had a date tonight too."
Captain Matthews lowered his cap over his eyes and growled under his breath. "Moron."
It was a good ten minutes before anyone said anything in the hospital room. Finally the cyborg opened his mouth and spoke. "Keet owonynk, Mary, ydmkeet de mooiea ukuyn uzdorme luni iourm," the mecha said with a smile. "Y nowordheakhd jo'tlood ukuyn, uzdorjhud hubbonot de dhodje ez iea."
Shelley frowned and looked at her younger sister, who was hanging on every word of the cyborg. One of the few talents that she had not been given that Mary had was an astonishing ability to pick up any language and both understand and speak it immediately. Shelley could understand a little bit of Ungolic but not enough to keep up with what the cyborg had totally said, Mary on the other hand.
"It's good to see you too Percy. I have to admit, I never thought I'd see you ever again either." She looked at her sister and smiled as she turned back to him. "Pad Y dhyngjo mheact ducgyn English, Shelley teomn'dmool de huwodho antormduntynk ez Ungolic cygomho amotde."
The cyborg looked over at Shelley and smiled. If he could have, he would have blushed with embarrassment. "But of course, I forgot that Mary was better at speaking other languages than you were. My deepest apologies, Shelley," Percy folded his hands together and bowed at her.
Percy Horsham Westbrook was his human name, one he hadn't used in over nine hundred years, but somehow the blonde haired six year old had gotten him to reveal it once upon a time. His true cyborg name was Pyreges 4, a ruthless bounty hunter who was feared around numerous galaxies. For a time he worked with the Wollstonecraft Pharmaceutical Company, which hired him to "recruit" subjects to test their new drugs, that were supposed to bring health to the body, and allow people to live longer lives. Pyreges 4 found the perfect subjects when he traveled to Militia sixteen years ago, and found a six year old violet haired girl, and her four year old blonde sister, both suffering from Xyceria Complex Disease. Neither child should have lived another year, and their single father was more than willing to let the W.P. Company try to heal them. What happened to the girls after that, well, Percy didn't like to think of it. Not that he could, some of his memories of the incidents had been erased, a few of them by personal request.
"It's a pleasure to see you too, Percy," Shelley said with a polite smile. Like her little sister, she had found a friend in the cyborg. Unlike her little sister, however; was that she remembered who it was who had handed them over to the pharmaceutical company in the first place, no questions asked. "How long have you been on Ungoliant?"
"Five years now," the cyborg said with a sigh. "I came for a job working as the body guard for the former elder of the planet, but when he died, I was out of work. Not many people want to hire an ancient cyborg like myself." He lowered his eyes. "The last upgrade I had was six hundred years, during the Hyperspace Wars, so my circuitry isn't as fast as it used to be."
"I can't imagine you staying in one place for so long, with nothing to do," Mary said in a chipper tone. "You were always coming and going. I don't know what would have happened to Shelley and me, if you hadn't come across a Kukai Foundation executive, who told Gaignun about us."
Percy looked to the hospital room door and nodded. "So, that's Gaignun. I wondered what he was like. Heard he got you girls to safety. I'll have to thank him when I leave." He lowered his head and groaned. "I, I want to apologize for leaving you two in that horrible room. I meant to come back for you during the raid by the Foundation, to see you safely away, but I had some," he hesitated for a moment. Unfinished business is what he wanted to say, but he knew it was too soon to mention anything.
A flash of gray light crossed his eyes, and he was back in that dark room, looking down at a scientist lying on the floor, a gapping hole in the back of his head smoke rising from the hole. He looked up and stepped over the dead body, freeing two little girls from shackles that were binding them to the walls. In the distance he could hear the sounds of bombs and gunfire as the pharmaceutical security forces were trying to fend off an invading Kukai Foundation attack. The android ignored the sounds and gently tore the needles and tubes from the girls' arms, snarling at the thick yellow ooze that dripped from the ends of the needles and smelled like thick, sweet syrup.
"Now you girls stay here," he said looking deep in their eyes. "Don't open that door for anyone except myself or a person wearing the uniforms I showed you. Do you understand?" He waited for them to nod. "You'll be able to see the people at the door through that window," he pointed to a window on the door. "But try and stay out of sight if you can, ya under stand me, now?" Again the girls nodded their little heads. Shelley was a beautiful little ten year old girl now, and Mary was the most adorable little eight year old, with short blonde hair and big trusting blue eyes.
"Are you really leaving us, Mr. Percy?" she asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. He smiled and stroked her cheek.
"I hope not. I'm going to come back, as soon as I can. There's someone I need to talk to, which shouldn't take too long. You just do what I said, got it?" Despite using her puppy dog eyes to try and persuade him to stay, she finally gave in and nodded. "That's my good girl," Percy said with a quick poke to her ribs. He turned and walked out of the door.
He was halfway to his destination when he encountered a young, black haired lieutenant commander leading Kukai Foundation soldiers in his direction. The cyborg recognized him immediately as an anti-U.DO super soldier, or a U.R.T.V. as the Federation called them. He looked around seventeen or eighteen, and his blue eyes focused on the cyborg. They stared each other for what seemed like a while, but more than likely it was only a few seconds. Percy rushed passed them, and turned the corner. What had happened after that, he could remember. INFORMATION ERROR. . ., was all that flashed across his eyes.
"Percy, are you okay?" Mary frowned as she looked at the android. She tried to sit up further, to put a hand on his shoulder, but nearly bit through her lips as the pain raced through her body.
He lurched forward and regained consciousness in time to grab the blonde woman's body before she fell on the floor. He shook his head and stood to his feet as he looked around the room. "Sorry about that," he said with a chuckle. "I zoned out."
"You said that you had something before you 'zoned' out," Shelley said quickly. "What exactly were you going to say?"
Percy smiled and shook his head. "Can't rightly remember," he said, hating himself for lying. "I'm an old man; despite how I look girls my memory isn't as good as it used to be, even if I am a cyborg." He kissed each girl's cheek and turned to the door. "I wish I could stay longer, but it's getting late, and I have to get to work. We'll talk later."
"I thought you didn't have a job," Mary said, blinking her blue eyes.
"Most people don't like hiring an old cyborg like myself, however, this old pile of bolts still has the reputation as a pretty good reputation as a bounty hunter." He flashed them a dashing smile and winked. "I've gotten some pretty good offers since the new elder came into power." He opened the door and walked out, passing Gaignun.
"Thank you for taking care of the girls," he said, looking into the eyes of the younger man. A moment passed and Percy recognized Gaignun as the lieutenant commander of the Foundation forces he had seen all those years ago. He must have gone in the direction I came, Percy thought.
"You're welcome," Gaignun said, reluctantly. He watched the cyborg walk off, and entered the room.
A thousand eyes of hatred stabbed Shion and Jan from every direction. It had been their luck, or rather Jin's intercession, that they had traveled to Fabiola a northern city in Ungoliant, it didn't have many gangs here, but there was still no love lost for humans. They had Ziggy and KOS-MOS with them, but that didn't stop much of the hatred from pouring forth from all sides.
"Have you ever been here before Ziggy?" Shion asked as they passed workshops, darkened homes, and a few stores. Mechas didn't need much in terms of food or recreation, so a city primarily for them was about the size of a small town. Only a few cyborg cities were the size of the main capital, which rivaled the size of Fifth Jerusalem.
"You mean Ungoliant? No, this is the first time I've ever been here." He looked at her and chuckled, "I know I'm a cyborg, but the planet never really gained my attention, and I never had a reason until now."
"I can see why," Jin said with a shiver. He had wanted to visit a mecha area, to see if what his sister had claimed was true. He found it horrifyingly accurate. "I've only seen this heard of hysterical hatred one place else," he stroked his chin. "In a book I read about a political party called the Nazi party, on a planet I've never heard of."
Shion sighed, rolling her large blue eyes, "Books again, you crazed bookworm, what's wrong with you?" She looked at her brother, who smirked at her, and groaned. "Sometimes I wish I were adopted." She looked at him and gave one of her own smirks, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Or at least find out that you were."
Ignoring their banter, KOS-MOS turned to Ziggy and frowned. "What is this Mecha that I have heard since we landed on this world?"
The cyborg looked at her with a shocked with reaction and then smiled with amusement. "You are," he said with a chuckle. When he saw her empty eyes glaring at him, trying to figure out what he had just said. Ziggy smiled and winked at her. "Like I said, you are a Mecha. You, me, and every other android and cyborg on the planet, it refers to the fact that we are either born of mechanical bodies, like you androids normally are, or had mechanical enhancements placed on their human bodies, like us cyborgs. Human's are the ones who named are 'race'."
She looked at him and blinked, "I see, I suppose that is logical, since we are mechanical in nature." She frowned and blinked again as he laughed and continued walking down the street. "Did I just tell what is called a joke?"
As she tried to continue her conversation with Ziggy, Jin had finally decided to open his mouth to comment about his sister's remark on adoption when something rushed by the corner of his eyes. A smaller group of androids zoomed around a corner, seven of them. He frowned and quickly analyzed the situation.
"Is something the matter?" Ziggy asked as he walked up to the man. The cyborg looked in the direction that Jin was looking and frowned himself. "What did you see?"
"Since when do androids act so skittish around humans in one of their own cities?" He pointed in the direction that the two of them were looking, "Especially if their in a relatively medium sized group?"
"What are you babbling on about now?" Shion asked. She walked further from the group, nearly walking around the corner herself, when Jin called out to her in a warning tone. The young woman swirled around, her light tan and purple skirt twirled, brushing against her brown pants.
"It could be an ambush," her brother called. "Get back here now."
"What are you even talking about," she snapped, stomping a foot on the ground. Before she could ask another question there was the sound of a low rumble, like a sky plane soaring over their heads, then the ground began to shake. The next thing Shion knew she was in the air, her body flying into her family and friends. Weakly she pushed herself to her knees in time to see five androids armed to the teeth, three war robots, and another four cyborgs in anti-Gnosis Weapons Systems, huge almost human looking mechanical suits that were designed to battle the larger more aggressive inter-dimensional alien species known to the entire Federation as the Gnosis. But when do Mechas use them?
As if to answer her question, a tall, slender android stepped out of the shadows. She wore a scarlet red death mask over her face which was almost covered by her long black hair. Her black uniform covered her body as if it had been painted over it over it, while her legs were bare, letting them see a few wires attached to her pale skin. "Well, it looks as if you just couldn't wait to see me again, detective," she said with a giggle, looking at Ziggy. "I'm afraid this is the last time we'll met though. I can't have you interfering with our brother and sister Mechas efforts to save our leaders from the elder and his human masters."
"You know her?" Jin asked, frowning at Ziggy.
"We met on Amadore, her name's Zefonith III, and for some reason she seems to know me very well." He glared at the female android and scowled at her.
"Be careful of that rage, Ziggurat 8," Zefonith 3 said with a smirk. "Wouldn't want you to become a cold hearted machine, now would we?" She took a step forward and lowered her eyes. "And as for knowing you, I know you exceptionally well." She raised an arm, motioning her friends to raise their weapons. "I would have loved to exact my revenge on you a little more, but what was meant to be, was meant to be." As her arm sliced through the air, her compatriots opened fire, sending a deadly rain of fire in the direction of the foursome.
Ziggy was the first to move, in a single deadly showmanship of speed he leapt into the air, and came crashing down next to two of the armed androids. He smiled quickly and thrust his cyber blade in an arc motion, as if he were swinging a baseball bat. The two frowned and looked down at their chests, which were torn open. They looked up at him, and felt their motion sensors shut down as the dropped to the metal ground.
Jin was just as quick, swinging his blade in tight x motions, as two other androids rushed him, firing their guns. The talented swordsman swerved and swayed as the bullets came, catching a few with his blade, dodging those that he didn't have the speed to block with his weapon. It almost looked like an exotic dance. He knew that sooner or later, he was going to have to go on the offensive, that if he didn't, he'd get boxed in a corner before long. His eyes quickly scanned the scene, watching Ziggy and KOS-MOS battle a vicious golden, Cyclopes A.G.W.S. He turned around and watched as a cyborg tried to gut his little sister after tripping her off of her feet. A quick blade thrust to his shoulder, and he was disabled. Jin smiled, he wasn't the only accomplished sword user in the family.
Shion on the other hand was not the die hard swordsperson her brother was. Being involved with science and business, she didn't have the stomach for killing people, androids, or cyborgs. Gnosis were slightly different, with them, if you didn't kill them, you'd end up being lunch. She followed her brother's glance and watched her two cybertronic companions struggle with a large A.G.W.S. She knew that she had to do something the thing was getting the better hand of them. Jin rushed passed her, and with a slicing downwards motion, decapitated the last of the battle droids.
"Keep your eyes on the battlefield, little sister," he snapped.
"I've fought in more battles than you've ever have," she said with a sneer. She shoved him aside and rushed towards her friends. Concentrating as hard as she could with her whole essence, she reached the scene, and screeched to a stop. Shion placed her hand over her chest and closed her eyes. A moment later she looked up, "Open ether circuits," she said, waving her arm in a horizontal line. A bright blue circle opened up around the feet of Ziggy and KOS-MOS. As pure energy surged through their bodies, they felt the urge to continue their battle. A united attack combining the female android's satellite attack, and the male cyborg's meteor attack sent the thing reeling and collapsing under its own weight. The cyborg inside the armored suit quickly crawled out and rushed away from the battle leaving the only combatant left on the field to be the female android.
She looked at the vanquishers, narrowing her eyes. Scanning the scene she could see a number of cyborgs and android citizens standing, huddling around the corners, their eyes wide with shock and horror. All of them had seen violence, and none of them had wanted to see it again, one of the many reasons why they had abandoned their human "masters" and left for the planet of Ungoliant. Even if she threatened them to aide her now, not only would ninety percent of them flee, but more than likely the jig about her agency trying to help them gain greater freedoms would be up. Instead, she had a better idea.
Zefonith III pulled out a gun and aimed it at one of the smaller cyborgs huddling in the corner. She knew him, and knew that while it would shook those listening to hear what she was about to say, not too many would doubt it. "Enemies of the state, must be eliminated, but so too must the traitors." She arched a burnt eyebrow from behind her mask and smiled, "You asked for these outsiders to come here, and bring these humans along. Now you must pay." Zefonith pulled the trigger, allowing the sound of the roar of the gun to calm her a little. While insanity would develop, she would get away, and let Albedo know that the Federation was here. While what she said was a lie, the panic would result in a crazed crowed into attacking her enemies for her.
The plan backfired. Ziggy had anticipated what she had planned to do, and launched himself to block the bullet from striking its prey. Zefonith frowned. Is it possible he knows who I am, finally? She hoped not. She wasn't ready for the game of cat and mouse to end quite yet.
The bullet struck Ziggy straight in the chest, and would have killed him, had he a beating heart. But the electronic systems in his body were undamaged, and thus all he felt was the stinging burn in his chest as the bullet entered and lodged itself between his heart and left rib. He grunted, his slicked back blonde hair waving in the air as he forced himself to roll on his side, but his strong circular face, his powerful ice blue eyes, they had a look of massive determination. He forced himself to his feet and narrowed those eyes. Without looking back at the crowd, and in a very deep, dark voice he said, "Get out of here." They didn't need a second warning. The streets quickly emptied faster than a mall offering a discount sale in each of its one thousand stores.
Ziggy began walking to Zefonith III, slowly, determinedly. The sounds of his footsteps echoing throughout the city, louder than any A.W.G.S. could ever hope to be. Ziggy walked up to her, until he was face to mask. "This ends now," he hissed under his breath. "Who the hell are you?"
Zefonith III smiled widely under her mask. "How are your grandchildren, detective? Oh, that's right, you don't have any." She leaned in forward, as if she were going to give him a kiss, "Because David is dead. And we both know why, don't we?" she cackled and pulled back, studying his shocked, horrified face. "Come now, you didn't delete the memory of your own son now did you?"
Shion's mind began to race, this android clearly knew Ziggy. At least knew him from a previous age. And for some reason she had a grudge against him. But whatever had happened between them, this was just too cruel. The young science officer could see confusion; pain, anguish, and hatred boil in his face. It was too much to watch. "Leave him alone," she roared, stomping her foot.
"Mind your business, human," Zefonith III said, never taking her eyes off of Ziggy. "I warned you, didn't I?" She smiled as she looked at him. "I knew you'd get emotional if you went after him, and you did, didn't you? And David is gone because of it, and you are nothing more than a cyborg, a thing more than a person." She began pacing around a shell shocked Ziggy, delighting in his inability to move. "You are pathetic. Why anyone would call themselves you friend is beyond me." She raised her gun and pointed it at his face. "I should really end this right now. The game is no longer fun anymore."
"I said leave him alone, you bitch," Shion roared, raising her sword in the arm. She squealed in shock as Zefonith shot it from her hands.
"And I told you to mind your own business, if I recall," the android snarled, still keeping her eyes on Ziggy. "Interfere again, and the next bullet will crush your skull."
Ziggy lowered his head, his eyes closed in deep meditation. Finally he said a single word, so low a dog wouldn't have heard him.
"What's that," Zefonith said with a cruel smile. She cupped her hand to her ear and leaned forward. "I don't think I heard you correctly."
"David, I remember David. I remember what happened." Now Ziggy began to move startling Zefonith III. "There's something else, as well," he said, his voice seriously calm and collective.
"And what is that?" Zefonith began collecting her wits, almost fearing that he had pieced together the puzzle too early.
"You don't get to say David's name every again," Ziggy roared, firing his gun into the evil android's mask with each word. She would have fallen to the ground, if Ziggy hadn't grabbed her shoulders and held them tightly. "Ready?" he asked with a sneer. A split second later his right leg was kicking her chest and stomach in lightning strikes. Just as quickly the cyborg leapt into the air and looked down at his prey. Summoning all the fire particles he could around him, he began kicking in the air, sending waves of fire down upon her, finally sending a meteor crashing down.
The attacks sent her reeling. She'd underestimated both his memory and his rage. Zefonith dropped to the ground like the ending of a bad habit. She was weak, but she was still alive. The android covered her mask with her left hand, as if too keep it from falling off and used a med kit to revitalize her life with her right. She stood to her feet, her left hand over her face, dark red blood oozing from between her fingers. "Impressive, but I'm afraid it wasn't able to finish the job."
"Then let's continue where we left off," he roared down at her. Ziggy descended on her, like an eagle ready to snatch its dinner.
"Sorry, but I'm afraid we'll have to postpone that for another day," she said with a grin.
With her right hand the android threw a grenade, and fled as a bright flash filled the town's maid street. All they could hear was the taunting laughter of the evil android as she disappeared into nothing.
"Another day," Ziggy growled under his breath. "There will be another day, Zefonith."
From the shadows he watched them. He frowned and shook his head. They were good, very good. And they worked like a team. The cyborg Ziggurat 8 was especially powerful. And yet, there was one there, well two actually, that were stronger than most. Even though it was the android KOS-MOS who was destined to fight the living energy beam, U.DO, these two were enormously powerful. And it was these two he was being paid to find. The shadowy figure sighed and turned around, for the human sectors of the planet.
Momo clung viciously to Jr.'s arm as they walked through the streets of Janus. The streets were dark, dirty, and almost abandoned. Jr.'s group wouldn't have even been here had they not received that tip at a tavern called Ghibli, in the human city of Nat. The skies were dark, despite the fact that it was early morning. Shion and her group should probably be back by now, he thought.
"I sure hope they found something," he said under his breath.
Momo looked at him and frowned. "What?"
He looked at her and smiled, "Nothing, just thinking to myself." He surveyed the town and groaned. "Remind me never to take advice from a Nexian again." That prompted a giggle from the young girl.
A low rumble in the sky growled high above their heads. Though the whole population lived in a shell, the executives of the government created artificial weather, just like they had on the Kukai Foundation. Jr. looked up and groaned. "Terrific, first we get a dead end lead, and now it's going to pour on us."
"Jr. why does it only rain in the human districts and cities on Ungoliant?" Momo asked, her dark brown eyes studying him seriously. The light of the morning sun shone down on her light red hair.
"Most androids and cyborgs don't really like the weather," Jr. said. Unlike Ziggy, Jr. had been here. He'd been here twice to be exact, once right after the raid that freed Mary and Shelley and the other time to encourage a beneficial financial union between the old order and the Foundation. "Human's tend to drift to thinks that remind them of the natural, so that's why they insisted on weather changes."
Randall Fairweather walked out of one of the buildings, shaking his head. "No one wants to talk about it. They seem to be really afraid of some guy called Tyroan Cillwater." His eyes narrowed and he groaned. "He's one of the lieutenants of the Life and Justice Party."
Jr. frowned and cocked his head to the left. "The what now?" Both men were around the same size, and looked firmly into the other's eyes.
"The Life and Justice Party," the science officer of the Durandal said, his gruff voice just as frustrated as Jr. looked. "It's a human militia that has taken control of Janus."
Jr. screwed up his face and shook his head, "What the hell? I thought Helmer told us that the Human's First Movement was the only human militia on the planet."
"Well now there are two," Randall said. "And guess what? They're taking their orders from some new guy with pure white hair." Randall smiled and chuckled to himself as he looked at the two of them.
"Albedo," Jr. said under his breath. It was more of a curse than a proclamation of the name of his adversary, as if saying it would send the maniac to the flames of hell, where he belonged. "But how did you know? You just said that they wouldn't talk."
Randall smiled, stroking his full red beard. "What I said was, no one wanted to talk," his grin grew wider. "I never said that they didn't talk." He cracked his knuckles and continued to chuckle. It had been a while since he had gotten physical. Everyone always assumed that because he was a little guy, and a scientist at that he'd be a wimp. Anyone who tried to prove that assumption had been quickly made asses of.
"So, Albedo is here, and he's the one behind the kidnappings." Jr. stroked his own chin. He turned to Momo, his eyes turning to compassion. He could see the hurt in her eyes. Rage filled his body as he remembered how the bastard had kidnapped and physically and mentally tortured the young girl. God knows what he was doing the cyborg or android leaders.
"He's not the only one," Randall continued. "Apparently he's leading the humans against a campaign of terror that's being conducted against them by a masked android."
Jr. felt his back arch. "A masked android?" He couldn't mean the one that attacked Ziggy and Momo. He looked at her, and followed her startled gaze right back to Randall.
"A female, masked android," Randall said with a nod, his grin diminishing. Despite enjoying smacking down some of those thugs on the inside, he realized that the situation was growing more desperate. And the worse part was yet to come.
"Zefonith III," the young Realian said under her breath.
"Appears they're in cahoots," Randall admitted.
"Who the hell says cahoots anymore," Jr. snapped. Now the three were walking down the street, back to the hotel, where the other three members of their group were waiting for them. Captain Matthews, Hammer and chaos had already done their own snooping around this town, and had come up with nothing. Jr. smiled. "Sounds like you've spending too much time debating Captain Matthews."
Randall's brow narrowed and he glared at the young U.R.T.V. "Don't insult me, Little Master," he snapped.
Jr. put his hands in his pockets and chuckled. Above their heads the clouds began to grow and they could hear even more thunder. The bright tan bricks of the human buildings were beginning to dim, growing muddy brown. There was spider webs in most of the windows, and as a whole the town, with its dirt road and cool air seemed very much like ghost towns that Jr. read about in his books.
"We can continue this when we get to our room," Randall said, starting to grin again. They were halfway to the building when a massive rumble of thunder echoed through the sky. For a moment they continued to walk, and then Randall stopped and glared in the sky, watching gray clouds roll past the buildings and over their heads.
Jr. sensed it too. "That wasn't thunder," he said under his breath.
The three rushed down the street and sped around the corner. To their horror, the hotel they were staying in was in flames. On the side of the building, spray painted in blood red colors were the words, GO HOME, MECHA LOVERS.
The nurse walked down the hospital corridors, stopping to glare at the numbers of each door for a second before proceeding to the hall. Her eyes were hard green, the light of the hospital barely shinning in them. A doctor turned the corner and looked up, smiling at her, and froze in his step as she glared at him.
"I need to know where this patient is," she said in a calm voice. She handed him a pile of thick dark green papers and folded her arms behind her back.
The doctor took the papers that she handed him and flipped through them, frowning. "Can I ask what this is about?"
"The patient, doctor, Do you know where I might find her?" The long green dress that she was wearing flowed down to the floor, her golden brown hair capturing the light of the hallway in its tight bun.
The doctor swallowed and took a step back from the woman. "What is you id number?" He narrowed his eyes and tried his best to be intimidating. "I don't see how you could possibly," he stopped short as a flash of silver slashed against his throat. The doctor gasped, and clutched his throat, feeling the sticky ooze of life leak from his body. He dropped the papers and felt gravity tear him down like a paper doll.
The woman glared down at the body and scowled. "Worthless fool," she snapped. Without an ounce of hesitation or difficulty she lifted his body over her shoulder and walked to the nearest closet she could find. She tossed the body in, and closed the door, feeling a tingling in her skin as she glared at him one last time before closing the door.
"Can I help you?" a soft, innocent voice asked from behind. A second nurse, one with long, curly locks and tiny glasses tried to twist her body to see what had been put in the closet.
"Yes," the murder said in a very masculine voice. The assailant turned and smiled at the young girl, perhaps one who had not even left her teens. He grinned at her and nodded. "I'm afraid that I've forgotten where one of my patients room is." The doctor bent down and scooped up the papers his victim had dropped, his skin absorbing the blood from both the papers and the ground where he fell. He smiled brighter and blinked as he handed them over to the girl. "Could you possibly tell me what room she's in?"
The girl looked down at the papers, flipped through them and nodded. "Mary Godwin. That would be Room 417." She handed them back, still feeling a tinge of curiosity about the closet.
"Thank you, my dear." His hand reached out and clutched her neck before she could stop him. With a quick press of his fingers, he felt the bones snap. Her eyes rolled back and he frowned. Just as quick as he had with the doctor, the intruder lifted the girl off her feet, and tossed her body in the closet.
The red headed candy stripper turned from the closet and narrowed her eyes. Room 417. The mission was almost complete.
He watched the small group gather outside of the burning building and narrowed his eyes. There they were. The two he was being paid to take out of the picture. Percy was a bounty hunter after all. He narrowed his eyes. There were six of them. Unlike Ziggurat 8's group, there were more of them. Like his group, there were only four of them who could physically fight, one of whom could use an A.G.W.S., the girl. The other two could get in the way.
Percy knew that these were Mary and Shelley's friends, but a job was a job. Tonight he was not Percy Horsham Westbrook. Tonight, he was Pyreges 4, and he was about to get paid.
The assailant walked quickly to Room 417, stopping short as she saw Gaignun. This was the last thing that she expected. She knew Gaignun, fought next to him during the Militian conflict. Getting past him would be hard. She narrowed her eyes. Perhaps there was a way. For the first time the assailant naturally smiled.
She walked up and presented him with a piece of paper that said that Mary needed another dose of medication, so they could perform another test. It was signed by the doctor; she knew that for a fact, since she was the one who had signed it in his handwriting. Gaignun was skeptical, and a little reluctant, but finally agreed to let her go in.
Once the candy stripper entered the room, she closed the door and pulled a cloth from under her shirt. This was going to be too easy. She looked at the young, blonde woman sleeping soundly on her bed, oblivious to what was about to happen to her. Why her employer wanted the woman alive, she didn't know, but she was never one to ask questions.
The candy stripper hovered over the body, cloth in hand, took a second and nodded. With one smooth movement, she slapped the cloth over the woman's nose and mouth and held it there.
Shion groaned as she watched the news channels along the panels of the tube that was taking them back to the capital city. The Mechas were furious that some humans had attacked their people in their own districts were now calling for the deaths of all humans. Worse, the Cyber Fangs had reported that in response to the attacks, they had just executed not one, but two prominent human politicians.
"The news ticker on the local station just confirmed one of the deaths," Ziggy said with disgust. His eyes burned with rage as he clenched his metal hand tight, nearly crushing the communicator he held in it. Where was Momo? Why hadn't they answered their communicator when he had tried to call?
Shion sighed and removed her glasses. They'd been set up. That was obvious. The elder of the planet wasn't to blame; he'd just been impeached over the incident. It was his councilors. The oldest of them, Y Trev 5000 had just been handed absolute power, and had already promised to repel many pro human rights laws that had been passed over the last fifty years. "This is insane."
Just as she finished speaking, Jin gasped and jutted a finger at one of the viewer screens, his face full of sweat. "Look at Channel 90. Something's up," he bellowed, his eyes dilating at a rapid pace. He could barely get his breath, and he nearly looked as though he were having a heart attack. "Come on, now," he snapped as they ignored him. "Jr. and the others are in trouble!"
Ziggy turned and stared at the screen than Jin was looking at, and nearly felt his own heart beat again. Momo was lying motionless on the ground in a human city. For a moment he could see David, screaming as he dropped to his feet, hearing the cruel mocking laughter from behind as it tauntingly congratulated him for killing his own son. "No," he said in a whisper.
Off to the side they could see a reporter, carefully avoiding the bullets and flying debris as Jr., chaos, and Randall tried to match physical prowess with a powerful, ancient cyborg. Ziggy frowned. He knew who Pyreges was. They had nearly fought forty years ago.
"This is Troy Chevez," the reporter said quickly, trying to avoid more debris. "The fight you are watching behind me has gone on now for over fifteen minutes, starting after a terrorist attack at one of the more popular hotels in the town of Janus. We believe that the attack was a ploy to get the former elder's representatives out of the building. Who the cyborg attacking the small group is working for is anyone's guess, but more experts are guessing a small criminal group with a pseudo mystic air, called the New Enlightenment."
Ziggy frowned and narrowed his eyes. Pyreges was wearing the symbols of the group, a slightly opened almond shaped eye over his shoulder pad, with a smaller pyramid on the left side of his gun handle. Just as there had been one hundred years ago, most religious factions and organizations were gone with the wind. Only the Hebrew Temple of Fifth Jerusalem, the Neo Roma Church, and the Old Path of Scientific Enlightenment were around now, with smaller groups like the Fairies Path of Magiks, and the Church of Ares swinging on a pendulum with each new year. The New Enlightenment was created when the Old Path of Scientific Enlightenment was deemed to pacifistic for their radical scientific members who were growing tired of the stagnation people were having over newer scientific discoveries. The N.E. took the ideals of science is god far further than the old enlightenment only could hope to.
Shion spun on her heels and shook her head. "How far is Janus from here?"
"Roughly seventy miles," Jin said, looking at a directory map. "We might not get there in time."
"We still have to try," Shion snapped. She turned and pushed a button that would activate a tube to take them to the human city. A second later the power turned off and the four of them found themselves in the dark. The young Vector science officer frowned and turned to the shadowy figures that were her friends, and her brother. "What's going on?"
Just as fast as the lights turned off, they came back on, and the four of them were surrounded by at least forty armed to the teeth androids and cyborgs.
Jin bit his lips and felt his pulse drop one thousand beats. "Ah, shit."
The candy stripper held the cloth over Mary's mouth and face and pressed, frowning as the woman made no attempt to defend herself. This should wake someone up for at least a few seconds.
A minute later she felt a gun being pressed hard against her head. She scowled and narrowed her eyes. She'd been deceived. With a quick thrust of her free arm she pushed the attacker into the wall and swirled on her feet, like a ballerina, to face him.
It wasn't him, it was them. Gaignun was the one holding the gun. Besides him sitting in a wheel chair was Mary, her eyes angry and fierce, as she put her hands on her hips. Turning to look at the girl in the bed, she could see that it was a plastic model. The candy stripper turned back and arched an eyebrow. "Clever."
"I realized who you were when I scanned you before letting you enter," Gaignun said with a tight smile. "You can never be too careful with the ones you love, can you?" He lifted the gun and motioned for her to surrender.
"But how did you pull this off so quickly? You couldn't have known I was coming after Mary, or even that I was on the planet."
"Got a call from the Durandal fifteen hours ago," Gaignun said with another smile. "They told me that they were getting readings that matched your energy wave." He looked at Mary and frowned. "At first I thought you might have been pretending to be an old friend of the girls, which is why I didn't attend a very important meeting yesterday afternoon. Then this morning we got a reading with your energy single last night near the hospital. That's when I changed Mary's room."
"And you knew you couldn't beat me, so you brought her here for me," a second time she smiled sincerely. "How nice."
Mary pulled a gun from her chair and aimed it at the candy stripper. "I don't think so."
"If you knew who I was, you would have brought more back up than a crippled girl," the candy stripper cackled. The room seemed to twist as a bright gold color flashed in her eyes. Waves of nausea hit both of them, and they dropped their guns as they bent over. When the room was back to normal they stood staring at the "enhanced" Gnosis merged U.R.T.V. Canon, formally known as Gresiedo. His smiled turned into a grim scowl of determination. "Give me the girl."
"Go suck a lemon," Gaignun snapped. "I'm far more powerful than you are, if you remember." Black energy began to flow from every pore in his body. His body tightened and he swiftly removed his business suit.
"You are forgetting three things Negredo," a voice came from behind them. They turned and watched Albedo, wearing a Life and Justice Party officer's uniform. It was bright blue, with golden patches over the sleeves and red trimming. "One, there's two of us, two Canon was merged with a Gnosis, making him stronger than you, and three, I'm five times stronger than you ever were." Pure white energy flowed from the maniac's body and he sent it straight at Gaignun.
Gaignun was fast, quicker than what most people thought he would be. He dodged the wave, pushing Mary out of the room for insurance. Albedo nearly took his life once, he wasn't about to let the maniac try a second time.
As fast as he was, he had indeed miscalculated the combined strength of both villainous U.R.T.V.s Though he had dodged Albedo's wave, he wasn't able to avoid the golden torrent of wind that Canon sent at him. It caught him and tossed him into the wall, cracking both his shoulder blades as he crashed.
"Not bad, but I've seen better," he groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. Pulling a gun from his back pocket, and a long sword from under the bed he stood in a defensive position, trying very hard to grin. At the back of his mind he couldn't stop thinking of Mary. She didn't look too pleased that he had tossed her outside, but he couldn't be distracted.
"You have come prepared," Canon snarled. "I'm impressed."
"I can't really say I am," Albedo said with a cruel chuckle. "If you were Rubedo this would be a lot more fun."
"Sorry to disappoint," Gaignun snapped. Focusing his energy he launched himself at Albedo and thrust the sword in a downwards arc. The villain caught it between his hands; which is what Gaignun had counted on. He aimed and fired the gun right at the maniac's head, blasting it off of his shoulders. Albedo's hands reached up for its missing body part and then fell limp as he dropped to the ground.
That buys me some time, now I have to focus my attention on Canon. Gaignun dropped his weapons and tossed a black bolt of lightning flying at the misfit, and watched as it struck home. It flung the other male a few feet before he dug his heels in and skid to a stop.
"That hurt," he snapped. His eyes flashed white and he tossed his hands like razor blades, slashing the very air. Meditating for a moment, he leapt into the air and hovered over Gaignun. Canon clenched his right hand into a tight fist, until it was full of light blue white energy. Turning it up with the back of his hand on the bottom, palm upwards, he released the energy, letting it fall down over Gaignun like acid rain. The energy sliced and burnt through his pants and skin, leaving him bleeding massively, but still standing.
"If that's your best attack, you're in trouble," he said through his teeth. He sent a black wave at Canon, knowing it would be blocked. He had done the same thing on Amadore, and regretted it. As Canon blocked the attack, Gaignun pulled out another gun from a hidden notch in the wall. He aimed and fired, leaping in the air as the bullets struck and he gave his adversary a round house kick, sending him flying out of the window.
The moment he landed, Gaignun rushed to another wall and flipped open another special lever. Thanking whatever god he could think of for allowing him to visit the planet whenever he had the chance, he pressed the button inside the lever, letting waves of bullets and lasers strike a reformed Albedo. Gaignun smirked and watched the maniac fall a second time.
"In case you haven't realized it by now you have walked into a death trap," he said with laughter. He winked at Albedo as he writhed in pain. A second later he took a step back as the U.R.T.V. started cackling like an old witch.
"In case you haven't realized," he screamed with pain and laughter mixed, "I enjoy suffering, even my own." He forced himself to stand, and threw his body into Gaignun's shoulder, bringing him down with a kick to the groin.
Before he could stand, a tornado of golden light sent him flying through the room, straight into and through another wall and out into one of the halls. His whole body screamed with agony, his eyes were beginning to swell up as he labored for breath. He rose to his feet, but crashed back to the ground as Albedo leapt into the air and slammed his foot into the main area of his back. Gaignun groaned and he felt himself slipping out of consciousness.
"Now see, here's where it would get interesting with Rubedo, he'd use his energy toss me aside, and so it would go on," Albedo laughed. "But you are so weak, it's rather just pathetic."
"This is so stupid," Canon growled. "This ends now. Get the girl and finish the stupid weakling." He crushed Gaignun's arm as he walked over him and grabbed Mary's arm. The young woman screeched and tried to pull away. She now wished that she had heeded Gaignun's request to stay in her new room.
"This isn't over with," Gaignun groaned. He tried to stand up, but was kicked to the ground as Albedo thrust a foot into his abdomen. Gaignun felt his knees buckle, and he dropped. He could hear his ribs crack after a second kick to the abdomen.
"Let go of me, you bastard," Mary screeched. She pulled away from Canon and tried to wheel herself from the monsters that wanted to steal her away. She could feel Canon's hard breath on his skin, and felt his cold hands grab her by her shoulders, trying to rip her free from her chair. "Big mistake bubba," she snarled.
Thousands of hundreds of volts of electricity poured out of her chair and entered Canon's body. The villain shook like a worm on a hook, smoke rising from his skin as he forced himself to hold on. His chest rose and fell slowly as he tried to breath. He blinked for a second and dropped to the ground.
Mary pushed a button on the chair and an electric motor kicked in. She sped around a corner and then another. Before she could turn the third corner, she came face to face with Albedo. He was grinning like a fanatic, his eyes bugging out as he stared at her.
"Forgot about me?" he asked his voice higher than a kite.
"I sure as hell didn't," Gaignun snarled. As Albedo turned, a furious businessman leapt into the air and crushed Albedo's shoulder. He smirked as the white haired man bite his lips and collapsed to the ground. With a determined look in his eyes he clenched his hands into a tight ball and brought it over the back of Albedo's head, ignoring the red hot pain screaming through his whole body. Albedo collapsed in a hump. He looked up at Mary and smiled, "Well, that's over," he said with a labored voice.
"You wish," Canon snarled. The U.R.T.V. began to glow bright white blue, and sent a massive wave of energy spiraling at the two heroes. When Gaignun woke up he found a note by Mary.
Keep her for now; we have the other one anyway. She'll do for now. Just try and stop us the next time we come after Mary.
Gaignun gasped before falling back into unconsciousness. We have the other one anyway. She'll do for now. "Oh my God, they've taken Shelley." He clenched his eyes tight and felt the darkness take him.
Shion and her friends stood back to back as the androids and cyborgs approached. The lead cyborg held up a gun and presented the badge of the new government. "Shion Uzuki and companions, for the crimes committed against the Mechas in terrorist activities I place you under arrest, by orders of President Trev 5000."
Shion frowned and shook her head. President? "Ungoliant doesn't have a president; it's a principality of the Federation."
"Even the head of the executive branch of the Federation isn't called president unless in special occasions," Jin said, just as shocked.
The head officer smiled evilly. "Ungoliant is no longer a member of the Federation," he chuckled. "We've just declared independence."
Shion frowned and turned to the monitors, "But we didn't hear," she began.
"We programmed these monitors for your eyes only," he said. "We didn't want to startle you too soon." His grin grew wider, "We've also declared war against Amadore for sole control of the galaxy. It's the beginning of a new order, Ms. Uzaki, and those who are against us, are going to be put out of our way." He grinned and folded his arms. "You can try to use your weapons, but we've activated a device in this particular tube, if you do, it'll detonate, wiping out half of the capital city."
Shion gasped and shook her head. "You'd kill your own people?"
"Martyrs make for good fuel to add to a campaign of war, don't you think?" He smiled and held out his hands. "But I don't think you will. You aren't the type to kill innocents, are you Ms. Uzaki?" He raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Or are you?"
Shion looked at her friends; all of them except KOS-MOS were ready to turn over their weapons. Finally with urging even she agreed to surrender peacefully.
And the start of a new order had begun.
Author's notes: Wow, I can't believe it. Another one bites the dust. This one was also a bear to write until the end. I promised a longer confrontation with Albedo and I did gave you want I hope you would want. Part 3 is going to get real messy. If you want to E-mail me and let me know what you think. Just write in the subject line, ABOUT YOUR FANFICTIONS. I'll make sure they aren't deleted. Or try anyway.