Chapter 5: MOMO's Subconscious Domain: Winter

chaos:

I found out that the Institute was maybe not so imposing as I thought it was. Indeed, I found it a lot better than staying with my brothers. Anima had been very kind allowing me to stay in here. I could finally breathe without having all of that protective clothing on. I was comfortably lying down on a plush bed when Anima walked in.

"Yeshua, I need to talk to you."

"Ok."

I sat up carefully.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm…ok. I really want to go outside and find my sister."

"I can't let you go back outside."

Huh? Why? I gave my father a confused look.

"Why not?"

"Not after what your brothers did to you, I won't. You know as well as I do that your body can't take direct sunlight."

Despite myself, I pouted.

"I know that. But…I wanna know why I can't do things like a normal boy! My brothers beat me up and call me a freak every chance they get! And I can't fight back…that would make me even more of a freak! I'm not different! I'm the same!"

I found myself shouting and getting upset…in the face of my creator. I found it insanely fitting though. I was letting out the anguish and pain that had managed to build up for years.

"Yeshua—"

"I hate that name! You're giving me a title that I can't live up to!"

Anima gave me a stern look.

"Yeshua, you know better. You must control yourself."

His voice was soft. He was attempted to calm me down…so he could keep me within his control. I was quickly beginning to learn the lesson 'fear breeds respect'.

"I want my sister…now," I hissed softly.

"Azaria, come in."

The door slid open with a hiss, revealing Azaria's small, thin form. Anima walked out of the room silently and quickly. I watched him, feeling hatred bubble up in my stomach.

"Stop looking like that, Yeshua," Azaria said softly as she walked inside.

"I hate him, Azaria. I hate all of them."

I saw the hurt in her eyes.

"Do you hate me, Yeshua? Even though I'm not actually related to you…I haven't tried to—"

I shot up from the bed and grabbed onto her waist.

"No! Azaria! Don't leave me!"

I burst into tears, despite myself. Azaria embraced me gently.

"Yeshua…calm down. I'm not going to leave you. Shh…hush now…"

I sniffled and straightened up.

"I-I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated with Father. I can't understand my feelings."

"Anima is just trying to keep you safe, Yeshua. The uniform and the gloves, everything."

"And…that makes me different from my brothers."

"Forget about your stupid brothers! It's you that Anima treasures most!"

That shut me up. Azaria watched me with her lavender colored eyes.

"Really?" I asked, my voice slightly hushed.

"Yes. Why do you think he made modifications so that you could live comfortably? And he put me in charge of watching over you and I'm not much older than you. Yeshua, you have a fantastic future ahead of you. Dr. Yuriev…he wants to use you for his greatest experiment."

Experiment?

"Why?"

"Your powers. He wants to see if he can use your DNA."

"I don't like that idea."

"You have no choice."

No choice…

I narrowed my eyes at the sight of the needle Shion held in her hand. I know she is not going to poke me with that thing. I swear I'll scream so loud in her head telepathically, her head would explode. Bad chaos, banish negative thoughts. My body was in terrible pain and I could hardly walk. The poison had quickly and effectively taken control of my body…one thing that I was counting on to not fail on me.

I considered running healing energy through my body, but my mind was torn between the pain and the horror of what I'd seen.

"Get that away from me," I hissed.

My voice was slightly high-pitched. Between that, I could hardly hear.

"chaos, we need to treat you here. Sending your wounded consciousness back now might kill you," Shion protested.

Wanna bet? With a name like Yeshua, I could make it rain body parts.

"Who said I'm going just yet? I'm here to save MOMO just like you are. I'm not going back until we're finished."

Everyone nodded in agreement. I hid my grimace as a muscle in my leg painfully locked up. Yes, chaos, be noble and torture yourself as well.

"Look, we're back at the Institute," Jr. pointed out.

And we were on yet another goose chase. This time, Ziggy volunteered to carry me on his back so that we could move faster. A flash of light caught us near the stone tablet in the park area.

"What?" Albedo asked while looking at a frustrated Rubedo.

"What were you thinking? Number 623's badly injured!"

"Is that what this is about? All he's got to do is just regenerate. What's the problem?"

A pause.

"Regenerate?"

Albedo lifted his right arm up slowly as a glowing blue orb of energy appeared in his right hand.

"Regenerate…like this…"

He placed the orb near his head causing it to explode and spray blood everywhere. The next thing I saw was Albedo's body standing without a head. Rubedo and Nigredo gasped, horrified by the show of power. I would have personally thrown up, but the poison had gotten to my stomach first. Albedo's head regenerated seconds later with a smile.

"See?" He asked.

"You idiot!" Rubedo shouted as he punched Albedo in the face.

Nigredo grabbed Rubedo and pulled him back.

"Don't you ever pull something like that again! If you die, you can't come back to life!" Rubedo shrieked.

Albedo held his cheek, looking very upset.

"You mean…Are you saying you can't regenerate?"

"Of course not! That's a special power only you possess!"

"Only me?"

Albedo started to cry.

"You're both gonna die and leave me behind? No!"

This was one of the times I could empathize with Albedo. Just knowing the fact that you couldn't die and your friends could was just disturbing. It was just something I had to get used to, especially after I lost contact with Azaria. Albedo clung to Rubedo's waist, sobbing loudly.

"I don't wanna be alone! If you die, I wanna die, too!"

"Stop it. Don't say things like that. Now you're making me sad, too."

"Rubedo, don't leave me behind."

Another flash. Another chase. This time, Albedo was digging a hole under some trees. Next to him sat two makeshift tombstones with Rubedo and Nigredo's names on them.

"What is he doing?" Shion asked.

"I don't know, but…ever since that day…ever since Albedo learned he couldn't die, he somehow started to change," Jr. answered.

"Really?"

The simple truth has extreme potential to destroy fragile psyches. I knew that well enough.

"We didn't understand. There was no way we could have understood…We couldn't know what it felt like to have a body that wouldn't die."

"Death is rest for the soul. If the body did not die, and the fears born in the mind just continued to pile up, the world would be nothing more than an eternal prison," Ziggy commented.

KOS-MOS gave Ziggy a small glance and a nod.

"Old man…" Jr. breathed.

He turned around with a sigh.

"In the beginning, Albedo and I were one," He said quietly.

"Because you're both from the same fertilized egg?" Shion asked.

No…they are conjoined twins.

"No. He was literally attached to my back from conception until the 28th week."

Jr. pointed at his upper back with his left hand.

"His heart was attached right around here," He stated.

"What?" Shion asked.

It's not all that impossible.

"Occasionally, due to incomplete cell division, twins are born sharing the same portion of their internal organs," KOS-MOS informed.

"That's right. Our special abilities, the power to halt or simulate cell growth, are both based on the same basic principle. But after we were split apart, our powers headed off in different directions. And that's why I shouldn't have just abandoned him," Jr. stated softly.

"Jr., couldn't you try just one time to approach him?" Shion asked.

It's not that easy.

"Well, you know…we're both pretty stubborn."

Another flash. Another chase. This time, we were in the dive capsule unit of the Institute. Ziggy sat me down on my feet gently. I stumbled backwards for a moment or two before catching my balance. Rubedo, Albedo and Nigredo were inside the dive capsules…getting ready to begin another dive.

"Commencing with neural monitoring of unit number 666. Membrane electrical potential, stable. Spontaneous brain wave frequency of number 667 shifting from 20 to 28 Hz."

"Calm down, children. Don't get flustered," Yuriev said soothingly.

The trio closed their eyes.

"Stabilized, 8 Hz."

"That's better. Just like that."

"So these are the U.R.T.V.'s…" A younger looking Helmer mused.

"Dmitri, will they be all right? I don't want to hurt these children, even for Sakura's sake," Dr. Mizrahi said.

It's a little too late for that. You helped spawn one of the craziest bastards in the universe.

"I'd heard they were young, but I didn't expect them to be this young," Helmer mused.

"You're pretty sentimental for a soldier, Helmer," Yuriev commented.

"Stupid, cold, heartless bastard. You didn't care that they were innocent," I snapped out loud.

"Hmm…I believe a soldier's duty is to protect human life," Helmer said tersely.

"This time, Sakura will be with you, too," Dr. Mizrahi whispered.

After that, we appeared near the gas station only it was snowing…

"Just like last time, the target point for this mission is the beach. Albedo, Nigredo, let's go!"

The Phantom trio disappeared into the forest, leaving the group alone.

"chaos, I have a question," Shion said softly.

Oh…great. Now we're having a mini questionnaire. I wasn't in the position to refuse them, especially with the poison effectively consuming my focus.

"Ask away."

"You knew Yuriev, didn't you?"

I bit my lip.

"He just looks familiar, that's all."

"chaos, answer the question fully," Jr. muttered.

I almost considered sticking my tongue out at him.

"I knew Yuriev. He was a friend of my father when the Yuriev Institute was located on Earth."

Jr. gave me a confused look.

"The Institute was located on Earth at some point?" He asked.

"Yeah, I was really young during the time Father knew him."

In a way, I was telling half-truth, half-lies. I was about seven or eight when I started living in the facility with Anima. The Yuriev Institute was actually a medical facility while it was on Earth. It was, until Yuriev heard about the threat of U-DO. And that's when he used some of my and a woman's DNA to cultivate useful bioweapons.

"Your father…?"

"I cannot say anymore. Please, let's just continue."

All of us continued into the forest at a brisk pace. I managed to keep up, even though I had to be carried over certain obstacles. We actually arrived at the beach but…

"Sakura! There's nothing here today. If we run, we'll be at the beach in no time!" Rubedo shouted.

I frowned at the sight of the trio and Sakura. Something was off. Sakura shook her head with a fearful expression on her face.

"Why not? Let's go! First, we'll cure your illness, then we'll go to a real beach," Rubedo said almost impatiently.

A shadow appeared behind him, dark and menacing.

"Rubedo, look!" Sakura said, panic evident in her voice.

Rubedo turned around and saw the evil shadow. An expression of horror was written all over his face. So now Albedo shows his true face. Albedo broke out in sin-filled laughter.

"What do you know, Rubedo? You're just like me, aren't you?"

He continued to laugh as his body started glowing.

"Rubedo's a monster, too! It all makes perfect sense. Once, the two of us were one. So, if I'm a monster, that means you're a monster, too! Oh, this is so wonderful! I'm so happy!"

Albedo was ecstatic now.

"No! Wait! This isn't my shadow!" Rubedo shouted.

"Rubedo, calm down. Please don't get angry," Sakura pleaded.

"I…I'm not a monster!"

Albedo's voice changed almost immediately to the normal one. I growled softly. I knew he was still around.

"Can you still feel the beating in your chest, Rubedo? Can you still feel my heart, buried in the right side?" Albedo asked.

Sakura's body vanished for a moment to reveal MOMO.

"Rubedo, it's a trap!"

Damnit! I watched helplessly as Rubedo/Jr. activated his powers.

"Jr., stop!" I shouted.

"Rubedo! No!" Sakura/MOMO shouted.

"Albedo!" Jr. shrieked.

"Chief! The Encephalon field structure has started to rapidly collapse! It's not a problem with the system. It was probably another trap inside MOMO," Allen announced.

Now was probably a good idea to use my powers no matter the cost.

"We should have known. Albedo anticipated the likelihood of an Encephalon dive," Shion said softly.

Jr. started towards the trio and Sakura.

"Did you say Albedo? If he was an acquaintance of Sakura Mizrahi as well, then it may have been part of his plan to bring Jr. here," Ziggy mused.

The bastard just wants revenge. The trio and Sakura vanished…

"A bypass-intrusion into the Encephalon?" Allen.

I wasn't surprised when the real Albedo grabbed Jr. by the neck and placed him in a headlock. He smirked and took a sniff of Jr.'s head.

"Such a sweet smell, Rubedo…the smell of rage evaporating off your body. Sure you don't suffer from excessive norepinephrine?" He asked.

He turned Jr. towards us.

"Jr.!" Ziggy shouted.

"Jr., calm down. Don't you want to make peace with your brother?" Shion.

Wrong thing to say, Shion. Madmen really don't listen to reason.

"Peace? I'll have you know, Rubedo and I are the best of pals," Albedo said, voice full of sarcasm.

He shoved his hand through Jr.'s stomach, causing Jr. to shriek in pain. Pain snaked its way up my body from my legs. That wasn't the poison.

"Albedo!" Jr. choked out.

Waves of red energy emitted from his body…

"Yes, yes, yes, yes! That's it! Come on! Unleash what you've been holding in all these years!" Albedo shouted in ecstasy.

"I'm gonna take you down! You're gonna regret this!"

"Sounds like fun. Give it a try."

A burst of red light shot out from Jr.'s body, knocking Albedo to the ground. He gradually backed away as he recovered from the lack of air. Albedo got up and smirked.

"Fool."

He sent energy at Jr., who in turn sent energy back towards him. The energy quickly grew out of control.

"No, Jr.! If you fight Albedo, you'll just be hurting yourself!" Shion shouted.

"Wait, Shion. Jr.'s losing control," Ziggy pointed out.

Now or never, chaos. You must stop them. Albedo laughed.

"You're got to hand it to him. He's trying to control his emotions. But his body hungers for combat. We are weapons, after all!"

"Stop this right now!" I shouted, forcing my energy towards them.

I ended up screaming as the poison sitting in my veins began to react, making it seem like my body was burning from the inside out. My mind tore away from it all, my raw will keeping the energy flowing. It wasn't long before I gave out and fell into the snow. Albedo picked himself out of the snow, badly damaged from my blast. My energy could kill him. He would find that out and stay away.

"Stop…"

MOMO? MOMO's ok?

"Stop!" MOMO said forcefully.

"You fell for it, ma pêche!" Albedo shrieked.

"You're so easy to manipulate, my mechanical angel. Mizrahi and his crazy whims. Anyone can see that it would've been smarter not to give you human emotions," He added.

All of a sudden, we were back in the analysis chamber. Dr. Mizrahi rushed into the room, looking very worried. I would have been worried too, if I didn't have a failsafe.

"MOMO, you're awake! Dr. Mizrahi, what about the Y-Data?" Shion asked.

"It's gone. The thing we feared the most these last fourteen years…the key…"

Shion had a very confused look on her face.

"The wheels have been set in motion. They can't be stopped," I said softly.

Jr. was almost halfway to the door to the main office of the U.M.N. Control Center, when he doubted over in pain.

"Jr., what's wrong?" Shion asked.

"My chest…my right side…this pain…it's Albedo's. His heartbeat is fading. It can't be…Albedo…"

I shook my head slowly.

He opened the door…now we must follow…into potential madness.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. I know it has been a while since I've updated. Well, next chapter is going to feature a new P.O.V.: Azaria's. Since there is a gap within the time Shion's on the Dämmerung, I decided to make this next chapter halfway original. Well, you'll see what I mean. Until next time.