NOCTURNE

Chapter XVI (16): Prologue Revisited– Zombie?

It has been years since the finding of Akira's dead mother. A team of the best investigators ever to be born on planet Imaj have kept her body in a special frozen state so to study how she could have died in a top-secret governmental laboratory. Finally, after all this time, the team of exhausted-in-mind scientists that have been autopsying her body seem to have found the cause of her death…

"Well? What is it?"

"It's… It's nothing I've ever seen before… Look at this!"

In a dim, hazy room, two men in black laboratory suits walk to a small metallic table. On the table is a microscope, the highest in its class for examining objects (especially small ones). A few feet away from the microscope is Akira' mother, her body kept preserved. It is in a large glass tube. Her body is visible inside, fortunately, so anyone who passes by in the room can identify who she is by glancing. One of the scientists in the room has fiery red hair, while the other has sleek brown hair reaching his shoulders. The redhead scientist looks through the lens and is shocked.

"Is… Is this her blood?"

"Yes… Luckily, we were able to invent this new mini-microscope using the newest of technology… Do you see it?"

"Yeah… It's remarkably tiny… Who in the hell could have made it?"

"I'm not sure. We haven't seen technology this advanced. It's much more dangerous than anything we've seen."

"But what would this strange nanobot be doing swimming around in her bloodstream? Who implanted it in her?"

"We think it was her husband… I think you know who he is, right?"

"Yes… Even after all these years, I still know who he is… Has his kid ever been found yet?"

"Well, it's been twenty one years, and he's been spotted all around the planet."

"Really? He's quite an adventurer…"

"But, as you're well aware, he has his father's strength… Everyone who has ever wanted him dead doesn't have the guts to kill him face-to-face. We've hired assassins, snipers, mythical creatures, beings from other planets, and even huge beasts from legend, but nothing can stop him. He either builds up his rage and attacks, or just simply uses his speed and his sword to catch them all off balance."

"He has a sword now? Perfect. Now we have another reason to fear him."

"He's also accompanied by a small dragon. You know of it? It's called a 'Red-Eyes B. Chick.' They're quite common in the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" realm, but this one… It has a red eye and a blue eye… From what I've heard from Keiji, Akira thinks it is blind on that eye…"

"Is it? In any case, why is this dragon so special?"

"The two seem to have a bond… As strange as it may sound, that baby dragon can transform into a Red-Eyes B. Dragon..."

"No surprise, what type of Red-Eyes B. Chick cannot?"

"…Or a Blue-Eyes White Dragon."

"WHAT? You're saying that… dragon can turn into either form?"

"Yes… It may sound crazy, but it is a very rare dragon, very rare indeed… It has the ability to transform into either dragon form at will when it grows older… and it can also transform farther…"

"Farther?"

"It can either turn into the mighty Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon… You know, that dragon from the legend…"

"Yeah…"

"Or it can turn into… I just can't help but shiver every time I say this… Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon."

"D-D-Darkness… D-Dragon?"

"Yes…"

Both men seem to turn pale in the cold, foggy room.

"You remember what happened years ago when Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon was unleashed, do you not?"

"Of course I do! Who could ever forget such a terrible incident such as that? That creature nearly took over our universe! Then, just to taunt us, it went into hyperspace and… it took over many other multi-verses."

"Do you remember what the special force was able to do to it?"

"Yeah… It's very hard to hear nowadays, but they managed to capture the beast one night on this planet when it came back to its mate… They killed it. I'm not sure how… Then they took the body and it hasn't been seen since… But… The mate it had survived… and she bore offspring…"

"That dragon Akira has is the offspring of that same dragon."

"Why didn't the special force get rid of his mate?"

"They… They did a test on her to make her unable to produce offspring… It seems they were wrong… Dreadfully wrong…"

"Well, in any case, that dragon won't unleash its powers… Right?"

"From what I heard from Keiji, he said that the dragon will show its true self once Akira does the same."

"Our world, and the universes, will all be doomed the day that happens…"

"Exactly why Keiji is out to get him and his dragon."

"I hope they are successful… Now… Let's get back to our original work…"

As the two men begin studying Akira's mother's frozen blood samples, there is a slight movement behind her glass tube. A small buzz is heard coming from a tiny machine attached to the large glass tube. The buzz signified that there is life somewhere in the tube. Both men jerk their heads up and look at the tube, both of them stunned.

"Hey… It's buzzing… It must be malfunctioning again… Damn thing needs to get fixed…"

As the redhead scientist begins to walk towards the machine, the small device starts to buzz louder and louder, sounding like a large swarm of bees. The redhead scientist stops and takes a small step back.

"What… is going on in there?"

As the sleek-haired scientist looks on with the redhead one, both of them are paralyzed with fright when they see that the woman in the glass tube's eyes snap open. The eyes gaze down at the men, giving them a look of death. Both men nearly faint as the sound of the machine gets even louder. Eventually, the buzz shatters the glass and releases the person from inside the tube. Fog flows out of the broken tube, covering the room in more haze. A thin figure is seen standing from inside the used-to-be glass tube. Before either man can run for help, a soft, deathly cold voice is heard. The voice vibrates in the room, sending chills up both men's spines.

"Where is he?… Please… Tell me…"

Both men turn as pale as ghosts as they listen.

"Where is he?… Where is my boy… Akira?"

NOCTURNE

"Death & Rebirth…

All life and the nonliving revolve within that circle…

And in a circle, what is the beginning and what is the end?

And therefore is there none, are we always touching both…?" --Seraph