ShardclawK: It's been quite awhile, but here I am again, still alive and kicking enough to finally bring about a revised update for this story. Why it took so long, you ask? Well, aside from the massive recreations and stuff I had to handle in my personal life, as well continuing revisions for this and COE, especially with MGS 4 now come and gone as I got some changes planned later, I still have lots of work cut out for me ahead, as well as some incoming surprises in the time to come for both COE and this one.
But back to this side-story, which is why you are here for the update. Just so you know that even though a lot of things were recorded during the Mantis arc during the previous revised chapter of SX, what about the other places in the COE and this story's universe?
This chapter and the next ones to come are going to answer most of that, as well to give readers an idea that this is when the real crossover story takes off in terms of seeing those long awaited anime and game characters that have been listed and mentioned so far in the story and how they are and will be involved later with the original characters for COE/SX and two, mostly to cover most of what's been happening before and during the final events of the Psycho Mantis arc, which the first portion of this chapter will be covering, events which should prove even more than interesting since one of them is a hint to more future arcs which won't happen for some time (but assuredly will, I can assure you.)
Okay, folks, I think I rambled enough for now. Enjoy the long awaited update as always and brace yourselves for a lot of surprises to come.
Previously in Soldier X:
Various members of the Uruha and Hokage clan along with the remainder of Team Warrior and Nastasha Romanenko had gathered at Kurei's mansion to learn from Riku and his partners about their recent mission to assist in the retrieval of Lilica Ebbett, Yuina Hattori, and Seraph with their FOXHOUND comrade, Greg Kinezono and his surrogate mother, Rio, Maya Jingu and the Shinsengumi trio. During this, they learned of the details and the circumstances surrounding their mission which pointed to Reese's doing and were able to share with them Seraph.
While in the meantime they discuss his possible motives and they await the progress of Greg's recovery by the hands of the ninja clan's medical team, they also discussed arrangements of Mantis' burial, the gathering of the remainder of their clan, allies and team members to prepare for the fight ahead and the recent development of a series of prison break outs around the country.
However, as the medical team had finished working on Greg's wounds, it was revealed that the mental and physical wounds he endured has caused him to slip into a comatose state, however, not all hope was lost with Riku and his partner's assurance when the remainder of the Uruha Ryu arrives, Greg has a chance to get past his current hardships with his powers.
On the outside of these events, Shade is invited to a meeting with two other ninja masters, one of them a former Iga ninja, named Tenzen Yakushiji as they prepare to discuss their plans of gaining the power of Orochi before one from the Heralds gets to it first, while the enemy Soldier X unit, dubbed the Hunters lead by Dixon, a former colleague of Greg's late father, prepare themselves to train two of their newest recruits, Triple B a captured Humaritt and Anna Kakuzawa, a diclonius, both of them infused with the variant of the SX gene.
And as all of this was happening, within Greg's consciousness during his current state, he went face to face with his counterpart, Violent Greg, in order to learn more about the past he's forgotten, as well fully understand more about his mysterious powers, but in order to accomplish this, he has to also face the memory of his late father who served as a guide.
Meanwhile, before the day ended, back at both FOXHOUND and NERV headquarters, things were slowly unfolding for the remnants of the FOXHOUND unit that was stationed Japan, as well for the people around them while even more other developments on the outside take place…
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Even if the glimmer of hope has faded, life must go on. The new phase of Soldier X begins with new challenges and mysteries!
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Metal Gear: Soldier X
Chapter 12: A Brief Respite, Part 1
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In the United States, several miles from the nearest settled area of the Navajo desert…
Inside a well lit hall that was decked with rows of congregation seats, many of them stacked with candles and books, a ghastly, painted rural depicting the events of Second Impact and its aftermath, decorated the walls and the upper ceilings of the cathedral like building as figures of men and women, dressed in red and white hoods that covered their heads were seated, were listening to an elderly male talking in a stern tone on a podium.
Event theme: Limestone Quarry from Vagrant Story.
(Author's note: This is possibly one of the greatest pieces of videogame themes that you'll ever listen to if you've never played the game and my most personal piece of inspiration and resting song time and again. Tracks like this can be heard on YouTube if you can't find it around.)
"My fellow devoted brethren, with the revelation of the end of humankind at hand and closing in upon us, we must now gather our faith more than ever if we're to save this already wretched world from its own destruction." The man spoke boldly as he was giving them a sermon for that time, while two other figures, a female figure whose face was well hidden from the view of the rest of the people in the hall, sat close by at a distance and a tall male with dark straight cut hair and a light goatee stood firmly at her side.
From the look of this man's clothing, which was different from those of the hooded group of people in the hall, it consisted of armor like clothing of an open brown and dark sleeveless shirt, both of the arm areas being netted around with meshed net wire and iron clad greaves. In addition to that, a rifle could be seen hanging from a strap around his chest area, and the man always kept a free hand on it so as to be ready to use his weapon whenever the situation called for it.
"We've seen what this world's science has done to anger the law and order of things for this world…the heavens will not tolerate man's arrogance for trying to play and even become God." The man spoke, raising an arm. "The price for that arrogance was paid fifteen years ago on the day of the Second Impact. Yet still, they keep degrading themselves and their fellow man by ignoring the undeveloped countries where the famines and diseases that ravage so many innocents become worse, countries where wars break out continuously causing any sort of system that could bring about some form of peace to become reduced to nothingness. Meanwhile, those who care nothing save for their own greed pocket a seemingly endless flow of wealth made from the sufferings of these innocents in the great exchange of blood money that is known as the war economy."
"Many of you who have come here, seeking refuge and safe haven from these harsh times, know greatly of what I speak from experience. From the loss of family and loved ones, to the rise of financial crisis and the abuse of the political system…we have suffered a great deal not just from the instability caused from the Impact, but also because of the outside world's ignorance." The man continued.
"As we reflect upon these things, let us not forget why this church, the Devil's Hand organization, was formed…to restore order and peace to an already decaying world through a different means. The answers to solving the world's problems today lies within these halls. There is no need to fear the wrath of the heavens as long as you all continue to keep on following the teachings that I bring to you…for I too desire the same resolution for this world that will make everyone be as one."
"Yes, Minister Enrich Welker. We all have placed our faith in you since the beginning several years ago when you first formed this organization. We will keep on supporting your dream on unifying humankind before they destroy each other." One of the followers said, bowing to the man named Welker.
"All praise Minister Welker and his vision for our world, which is not too far from realization!" Another one of the robed followers spoke as the others followed in praising him.
As Enrich Welker smiled at his followers, he heard the man standing behind him clear his throat loudly, signaling him as a reminder of a schedule at hand. Welker nodded his head and turned back to the audience.
"It appears that my time to start the campaign of my vision has come at last, my brethren. I shall now impart on a journey across the forsaken lands of this world, and recruit new believers for our cause." Welker spoke. "May your blessings and prayers guide me through my trials, granting me a safe and successful passage in this decaying planet. In my stead, Lady Samantha will be taking care of your needs until my return to you all."
"Minister Welker, we pray for only success on your holy mission." One of the followers said as Welker faced the robed figure who was seated behind him.
"Samantha, a closing hymn to end today's sermon, if you will, please." Enrich said as the woman stood up and stood at the podium as the Minister walked off it. Placing an arm on her shoulder, she nodded as she took the robe off her head, revealing a beautiful, young woman with long flowing, bleached blonde hair and blue eyes. Looking high at the glare of light above her, she took a deep breath before she began to sing a hymn in Latin, while Welker and the person who was standing guard close-by walker out of the hall and into a passageway into the back of the church area.
"As usual, your sermons are well done, Minister Welker." The man spoke from behind, with an accent revealing his French nativity. "A fitting one, I must add, especially since this will be the declaration of the start of that campaign you've been planning for months now."
"Yes, but if it wasn't for those recent attacks, I would have gotten done on this several months beforehand." Welker said.
"Still…I can't comprehend why you would want to start from Japan of all places to begin your mission, Prime Minister." The man spoke as they walked on the widely, decorated estate gardens. It looked like property belonged to a high status owner as flowers, shrubs, and hedges that were well placed and groomed were decorating the large botanical garden that they were in.
"I know that country is essentially the most dangerous place to be in right now, Hardin. But with the political status of both NERV and SEELE teetering on the balance at the moment with their leaders in turmoil, the uncertainty of the country's safety is now in question and it's not just the Angel attacks that are affecting that country either." Welker said to the man named Hardin. "You did read the news about the recent terrorist actions in that country, am I right?"
"Why, yes, especially about the recent kidnapping of NERV's own Commander and the coup-de-tat at SEELE." Hardin said. "The enemy groups that I read about are getting busy with these recent events, I wouldn't be surprised if that Army of God makes another attempt to control things at a time like this."
"Hmph, their methods are certainly barbaric compared to my teachings, brute force won't gain them anything beneficial at the end." Welker said to this simply as he fixed his robe.
He and Hardin stepped to the outer compounds of the estate, where a black limousine was parked in front of the driveway. An assortment of suitcases was also there along with two males dressed in black suits, packing the suitcases into the car's trunk.
"Still, Minister Welker, as much as I understand that your original starting point for this holy mission has to begin from that country, you need to remember that there are dangers in that country we haven't accounted for. Are you sure you don't need me to come with you?" Hardin asked.
"I really appreciate your sense of duty, Hardin, but I already said before that your mission is to see to Samantha's safety while I'm gone." Welker said. "If anything does come up, I'll be sure to request your aid, but I'm certain that things will run smoothly during my absence."
"Then, I will ask no more of the matter, Minister." Hardin said as Welker looked at him sternly.
"Please, take care of things here until my return. I'll be entrusting Samantha's life to you till then, Hardin." Enrich spoke as he sat down into the car seat with two other men dressed in the same garb as he was in front of them.
"She will be tended to when needed, Minister, I can assure you of that. Have a safe journey in Japan, sir." Hardin said seriously as Enrich smiled at his subordinate before signaling the driver to depart.
The French native named John Hardin could only look on in silence with a concerned look on his face as he began to ponder to himself while the private car drove off.
(Minister Enrich, I'll see to it that your vision comes through without fail. Mankind is already on the brink and near its end…please do what you can to bring a much needed preservation for the generations to come.) Hardin thought as he took out a hand sized photograph of a toddler, a young four year old boy holding hands with a tall, woman with long flowing, dark hair and began to look at it intently.
(So that way at last they can have a hopeful future to look forward to when you realize your dreams.) Hardin said as one of the robed figures approached Hardin from behind and called out to him.
"Sir Hardin, you've received summons from high priestess Samantha." The figure spoke. "She wishes to speak to you privately about this evening's service meetings without her father, as well as the events to take place in a matter of days."
Hardin sighed to himself as he placed the photo back into his breast pocket and turned around. "Alright, I'll be on my way, then. Please return to your duties and keep me informed of anything out of the ordinary."
The figure returned his acknowledgement of the order by nodding silently to Hardin as he made his way back into the estate.
As Welker looked through the tinted glass while his car left the compound, he was dwelling over his plan in order to make his mission come to fruition.
(One of the first things I should focus on during my recruitment of the newest members into the society is look into how I can also revive the Sapientes Gladio sect. I'm certain their cause following the times of the first World War would see eye to eye with mine, not to mention that during those times, from what I have been told, they had access to powers imaginable.) Welker thought to himself as he seated himself in his limousine. (After I make my stop in Japan, then I should start making plans to return to Europe for a while to oversee this.)
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At the same time, in the suburb areas of Greg's apartment building home…
"Well, if you whipper-snappers want to slice it, this looks like some kind of warning of sorts to Greg, but since you guys say that this is not one of Spinoza's men's doings, then the kid's got more enemies than I thought." An elderly male's voice spoke as a tall, elderly male in his late fifties, wearing a baseball cap, long overalls and a plaid shirt said this as he was using a cane to keep his balance while looking around Greg's ransacked apartment with two other of its occupants, Trey Johnson and Clair Harold.
"That's what I've been trying to say, Mr. Tanning. Some serious shit is going down that we don't know about and this neighborhood's probably going to get involved soon if it keeps up." Trey said as Clair spoke.
"Which was why I wonder if it's okay to call the police and let them investigate this?" She said as Trey replied in an objective tone.
"Nuh-uh, Claire. What do you suppose we'll do if they are still under Spinoza's payroll like the last time we tried to trust them?" Trey said. "You know I sure as hell am not going to trust those guys when it comes to times like this."
"So, do you have any better ideas, then?" Clair asked, almost as if she was arguing with him. "Without having to go around shooting up the place, I mean?"
"She's right, Trey, no sense getting extreme and using violence to resolve something we don't understand just yet." Tanning said as he sighed. "Look, for all we know, those guys that you claimed to have seen earlier are way out of anyone's league, we'd be better off not knowing about what kind of trouble Greg's gotten himself into and just help him out by fixing up this place by the time he gets back from his job."
"Yeah, but…" Trey was cut off as Tanning spoke on.
"I know the guy's like part of the family in this building, but no need to get worked up for something you can't handle, Trey. Besides, we have much a bigger problem with Spinoza himself, getting out of the pen a couple of days back." Tanning said. "That guy definitely be looking for a shot of getting revenge at Greg and even you too, for putting him in there at the first chance."
"Trey, you sure you're okay with this?" Clair asked as Trey looked around Greg's room one last time.
"To tell the truth, Clair, I'm not sure if Spinoza will let us off easy this time around." Trey said as he couldn't help but wonder to himself, if this was just a sign of serious trouble on Greg's side or more importantly, of impending trouble that would be soon to come around their neighborhood block by the looks of things.
(Damn. What did you get yourself into just when I need to round up our posse for a time like this, Greg?) Trey thought.
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Thirty minutes had passed since NERV lost its contact with the outside group of FOXHOUND recruits that were aiding one of their own comrades during a rescue mission around the old sunken areas of old Tokyo. Life and activities went on as usual for both defense factions as each had their own task to perform, yet everyone were still on edge over hearing what had happened before at FOXHOUND's side.
At one location inside the headquarters, inside the conference room, there was an important meeting going on with the high ranking members of NERV, Philanthropy and FOXHOUND. The new Commander of NERV, Kouzou Fuyutski, stood on one side of the table along with the Vice Commander, Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi and Ryoji Kaji.
On the other side of the table, the new field commander for FOXHOUND, Meryl Silverburgh and Philanthropy's top agent, Solid Snake were on the next. They were speaking to Colonel Roy Campbell and Mei-Ling through video and audio feeds as they were discussing about the recent developments.
"And that's about the gist of what's happened so far. We have yet to re-establish a contact with the group after their last contact with us." Meryl said seriously. Though it was emotionally hard on her, she managed to keep a calm face as she briefed her father about what happened and she was told by Michael earlier.
"This is a very grave concern, Meryl. As much as it worries me about our recruits on the outside in a situation such as this, we'd also have to look at a much more important detail at hand that we need to deal with…Matthew Reese." Campbell said seriously. "I do regret now more than ever that I haven't been more focused in putting my foot down when it came to placing discipline before, but…"
"Roy, don't beat yourself up over it. What's happened has already happened, there was no way you guys could have prevented this if he was acting on his own and was plotting from the start." The aging Snake said, causing Misato to stare at him in silence from the distance.
Misato took a second to remind herself that slowly, but surely, things were starting to look up aside from the fact that Shinji was still trapped in a liquefied form inside Evangelion Unit 01's cockpit. Yet this new revelation was not doing very much to help that.
As if to make matters worse, Asuka was been becoming more emotionally unstable and unbalanced since her loss against the 14th Angel recently with her Eva now under severe repairs while Rei's Evangelion Unit 00 was moderately damaged during the fight as well, along with a portion of the headquarters now under reconstruction after the last Angel had managed to penetrate its way through all the base's defenses and into Central Dogma and the Command Centre.
Funding for the compensation from these events were depleting the organization's already nearly defunct budget since Gendou Ikari's death a while back and SEELE had stopped backing NERV since they were being held captive by Solidus Snake and the newly reformed Dead Cell group. There was also the matter of SEELE still being in enemy captivity and the high risk of NERV being targeted, not by Solidus' organization alone, but possibly by other potential enemy groups that she had been hearing about from the past conversations she had with some of the FOXHOUND recruits before.
In short, this had been nothing but a hellish week for the newly appointed Vice Commander of NERV and she could only hope that it didn't get any more worse than it currently was, especially if another Angel chose to attack around this time.
"Snake is right, sir. Normally, we wouldn't involve ourselves in affairs that don't relate to NERV, but from what I can assume based on this Reese's actions, it's likely that what he did today was just a prelude of things we could be expecting for this organization later." Misato said seriously.
"Yes, Vice Commander Katsuragi, now that he has access to some confidential secrets concerning our recruits, he can very well use them as a weapon against us, which in turn gives him access to move about in his own plans. The fact that he also has information regarding innocent civilians and the abilities they possess also disturbs me." Campbell said as he had heard everything from the voiced conversation that Greg Kinezono sent over the Codec prior their mission regarding the death of Yuina Hattori's aunt.
"Meaning, the risk of the Eva pilots and those who are associated with them has heightened. For instance, people like their schoolmates and family members could be targeted by him as well, adding more to our threat list." Ritsuko added.
"With most of NERV's Section 2 security and staff have already been assigned to retrain under Venom's, Eagle's, and Berserker's drill training in CQC and weaponry, as well as with Scorpion, Jaguar, and Hawk's assignment of looking after the Children in addition to assisting in the training of NERV's staff, there won't be enough time for them to muster up just enough experience when they will need it in case the enemy strikes this base." Kaji inputted. "Solidus and whoever else wants to have the Children or this base won't wait for us to prepare ourselves, that's for sure."
"So in short, we should start preparing for the worst from now. The Angels aren't our only enemy anymore, now that we have got enemy spies on the watch of this organization, not just SEELE's anymore." Fuyutski said as Kaji lowered his gaze as he heard this.
(This means that I've got to step up things ahead of schedule before those old men eventually find out and things start to get really hairy.) Kaji thought to himself as Snake watched him in silence from a distance, having a strong feeling what he was thinking about.
"If need be, I'll have Meryl assign a few more of our available recruits to come over to Japan to assist the current team at NERV, since at the moment we're short of four of them due to the current situation caused by Reese." Campbell said as Meryl said.
"So, Dark Eden's going to have to be reassigned over here after all?" Meryl asked.
"Yes, you'll probably need her assistance since Venom and Demon work with her the best as a unit in certain missions. Also, her powers as a necromancer can work as a substitute for a psychic until Panther and/or Crow returns from their mission for the time being." Campbell said.
"Understood, please make the arrangements while I get things prepared here for their arrival, and also, I have to deliver the news to Venom and Demon. I'm sure they will be glad to have her, along with the remaining recruits who didn't come with us before, all gathered in Japan." Meryl said as her tone got serious once more. "Still, even with the added reinforcements from FOXHOUND…"
"We're still under watch by the Sons of Liberty and Matthew Reese; it won't be easy to predict how they will make their move before the next Angel arrives." Misato said.
"We'll have that looked into, Vice Commander Katsuragi, since Reese has already been placed as the main suspect for these recent crimes against FOXHOUND." Meryl said. "As for the terrorists in Japan, they will use this recent disturbance within our group to their advantage, and our current forces alone won't suffice. If anything, I'll request Venom's and Demon's suggestions on this matter, since they both used to operate with mercenary forces before on the outside that can help NERV, for the right price that is."
"Then, see to it that you talk to them later about what we discussed, Meryl." Campbell said.
"So, is that all to adjourn this meeting, Commander?" Snake asked.
"For the time being, Snake. We're still awaiting word from Panther's group on their status of what happened on their side, but for now, I doubt there's a need to worry yourselves further with what has happened since he has reliable reinforcements with him from what I was told. We're all tired over these developments too, you know." Fuyutski said.
"Then if you'll excuse us, we're heading back to the Command Centre to join the others." Meryl said as she and Snake left the room while the Commander and Vice Commanders along with Ritsuko and Kaji were left with Campbell still on the video feed.
"Well, what do you guys make of it?" Misato asked. "SEELE's under the grasp of the terrorists while one of FOXHOUND's own betrays them in only a week after the Commander's death."
"Yes, it's almost as if these things are happening by some coincidence of some kind. The Patriots certainly planned these events out, piece by piece." Fuyutski said. "But I wonder just what is it that they are trying to gain with SEELE's capture?"
"Certainly with all that has happened recently, you'd think the Japanese Government would lift a finger to look into these matters." Misato said seriously. "The Patriots must have them under a gridlock since every matter regarding the Commander's involvement with them started."
"Yes, it's possible that your Government has possible Patriots spies making things harder for us or some of them may even be acting under Liquid Ocelot's orders." Campbell said.
"If that's the situation, I'll just have to get someone who could investigate for us on these matters, but this guy won't be high profile enough so as to make him too suspicious for the enemy to spot out." Kaji suggested.
"Anyone you have in mind?" Misato asked.
"I know him personally, rest assured. He's a pretty old fashioned private detective, the kind you don't see around much these days, but manages to get the work done efficiently. The guy even owns his agency and was famed for putting a stop to a serial murder drug related case some years back." Kaji explained, taking out a card to show the group in the room. Ritsuko was the first to announce the name embedded on the card.
"Takeshi Shinonome Detective Agency…" Ritsuko said. "Are you sure we can have this guy work for us in our current situation, Kaji?"
"I'll make sure to make the arrangements when I meet him. The guy's a professional who takes his work seriously; I'll believe he will give us the vital reports when he uncovers something useful." Kaji said as Fuyutski spoke.
"See that you do that then." Fuyutski replied. "Actually, we've been planning on hiring another detective as well, except his job will be to investigate something quite different. I believe many of you have heard of the detective Kogoro Mori, right?"
"You mean the famous 'Sleeping Kogoro' whose managed to solve several murder cases throughout Japan?" Misato asked.
"None other." Fuyutsuki answered.
"Hmm…I've heard quite bit about the guy's record myself, sounds like he's quite the celebrity, but how did he ever get a nickname like 'sleeping'?" Snake asked.
"Apparently when he solves a murder or any sort of case he takes, Mori-san is supposed to fall into a position like he's sleeping just before he solves the mystery." Misato explained. "So, what exactly is this guy supposed to do?"
"What we're going to ask him to do is try to solve the mysteries behind the late Commander Ikari's death." Fuyutsuki answered.
There was a moment of silence at that announcement before finally Meryl broke it.
"Well, I can guess why you'd want to do that considering we still haven't figured out whether or not it was Dead Cell that caused the guy's death to happen." She said.
"Exactly, and I also intend to have him investigate the whole entirety of the day in which Commander Ikari was captured as there are some things I feel need to be answered about what happened that day." Fuyutsuki added.
"That's true, and considering the late commander's activities, he may have done something that day that can give us a clue about this new Dead Cell, Liquid Ocelot, or maybe even the Patriots themselves." Kaji spoke.
"We also need to find out how that Solidus guy managed to get in and out of here without being seen by anyone." Misato added. "Even considering that he does have skills on par with Snake…"
"She has a point there." Snake agreed. "Even though this base would be easy for someone like me to infiltrate, getting out while bringing along a captive would still be challenging, especially considering that Solidus had to make it out of the Geofront and to the surface somehow."
"That also brings up the possibility that there may be a very serious weakness in this base's defenses that we don't know about yet." Meryl said. "If this Mori guy can help us find that, then I'm definitely for hiring him."
"Very well then, while Ryoji-san makes contact with the detective he just mentioned I'll make arrangements to hire Mori-san." Fuyutsuki said as he then heard an incoming Codec signal from Campbell's side. As the signal was opened, the image of Riku Hanabishi appeared on screen.
"This is Drakken, reporting in." Riku said as Campbell's face lit up.
"Drakken! We were beginning to fear for the worst ever since we lost contact with you over half an hour ago, but it seems you are doing well." Campbell said, relieved to see the young shinobi. "Tell us, how is everything where you are?"
"Well, the worst seems to be over for now over here, everyone who is important is accounted for and doing well too, except..." Riku then stopped as he noticed his link was open to other channels as well." Wait, did I come in at a bad time?"
"No, your timing couldn't be any better, now that it seems that you've brought us some good news." Campbell said. "I was just having a discussion with a few of the top officials of NERV over what has happened."
"That's right, I remember now, you guys were there when you heard the news too." Riku said as Fuyutski nodded.
"Yes, we haven't greeted ourselves properly. I'm the new Commander of NERV headquarters, Kouzou Fuyutski." He introduced himself as he did the same with Misato, Ritsuko and Kaji. "With me are Vice Commander Misato Katsuragi, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, and Ryoji Kaji."
"Well, it's an honor to meet my soon-to-be-fellow employers, Commander. I must also thank your group as well for being the ones to safely relay the message to FOXHOUND that my comrade, Panther, had recorded before our encounter with the enemy earlier." Riku said as Ritsuko spoke.
"It was my own assistant, Lt. Maya Ibuki who undertook that task as she told me what had happened herself. You should thank her when you get the chance." Ritsuko said. "But, tell us, what's happened since you broke contact awhile ago? How did the mission go for your friend and more importantly your group?"
"That's right; he was the one more or less in charge of what has happening over there. Did something happen to Panther that he isn't able to report in as well, Drakken?" Campbell asked as Riku's face showed a hint of discontent as he sighed in preparation to give his report.
"Well, there isn't any easy way to say this, but to begin with, the mission did start off smoothly enough as Panther and the rest of our group were able to accomplish the mission objectives of rescuing the captured Lilica Ebbett and Yuina Hattori, so they're both safe." Riku said as Campbell sighed with relief at hearing that.
"However, I'm afraid that the rest of what I have to say from here on is going to be some pretty bad news for the Commander and the rest of FOXHOUND, sir. Upon our retrieval of Mantis after Panther was able to bring him around from his brainwashing, the two of them stayed behind as Panther apparently needed to hear some vital information from Mantis, which he said that he had to give him privately. The rest of us went on ahead to clear a path for them and then that's when things took a turn for the worse as the underground base started to self destruct by the time the remainder of the group along with me and my two partners got out ahead of them."
"Wait, are you saying that…?" Campbell said as Riku stopped him from speaking more.
"It's okay, sir. Panther managed to make his way out of the base despite its collapse…but…as for Mantis…when we got to them he was dead for sure this time. It looks as if something had been detonated from within his skull by the time we'd found them. No doubt Panther must have seen everything that happened to him while they were down there." Riku said with a hint of bitterness in his voice as the people in the conference room gasped.
(That's sounds just like the way Gendou was killed…what could this possibly mean? Are the Patriots trying to send some sort of warning?) Fuyutski thought to himself as Riku continued.
"Even though he managed to make it out, Panther was still heavily wounded and has lost consciousness since then, so he and anyone else who was injured during the mission was airlifted to the Uruha mansion, which is where we're located right now and are still gathering allies and fellow clan members due to the recent happenings discuss what we should be doing next." Drakken said.
"I see…so after everything that has happened, Reese has succeeded against us once more." Campbell said in a bitter tone. "It is a terrible shame for this to have happened, especially to Panther who must have fought valiantly to free Mantis from the cruel curse that the Patriots and Reese placed on him…seeing him die in front of him must have been quite the emotional shock to him after all that he did to save him."
"I know, sir, that's very true. Both of his surrogate family and the rest of us are trying the best to cope with all that's happened." Riku said.
"Drakken, I'm certain you did your part well in assisting him through this, so don't blame yourself and think that you could have prevented this." Campbell said. "The most important part is that you all managed to make it out of this alive, that's the only thing that matters now."
"I know, sir. But, before Mantis died, he left us some important information that the rest of you guys should know, especially with all the recent revelations that we also uncovered regarding Panther himself." Riku said seriously before asking. "Would it be alright that I request Commander Silverburgh's presence, so I can give a full detail of what we discovered today to everyone?"
"Yes, I'll have her called over at once, Drakken. Just give us a minute." Misato asked as Riku also inputted another question.
"Also, I'd like the remainder of FOXHOUND including Silver Eagle to be there when they hear the report, there's some important questions that I need to ask her personally." Riku said as the recent revelations regarding Greg's powers have certainly brought about concerns, which was why he thought that by asking Linn for information privately on what she fully knew about Greg's situation, he could start finding some temporary solutions to the problem Team Warrior was facing.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, in another part of NERV headquarters inside the VR simulation room for the FOXHOUND recruits and NERV personnel in training, five men from Section 2 were on the training mat holding onto several of their aching limbs as Michael Hansen, Linn Aramaki, Garland Durev, James Masterson, Mana Kirishima, and Kari Mondeau were busy training a group of the bodyguards and security detail for NERV in CQC.
Today, Rei Ayanami was also with them, along with Asuka Langley Sohyru who had just recently come back to headquarters. Despite still having a foul mood from her recent loss, she made an attempt to come anyway to try and get her mind off things by staying close to her guardian, Garland Durev. Silent Scorpion was there to keep a close, yet quiet, watch on her.
Also today with the First and Second Children was the Fourth, Touji Suzahara, who was interested in seeing how good the FOXHOUNDers could fight since he had heard stories from Shinji before that these people were more than capable fighters, and so he had come on his own. Since Touji knew that he would probably be coming to NERV regularly now, he was already making arrangements to balance this with his visits to his younger sister. The one problem that he had yet to find a solution to, however, was to somehow lose Kensuke before coming as the military nut had been constantly chasing him ever since he had found out that Touji had connections to NERV being the pilot for Unit 03, even though he was on an indefinite standby until it was repaired.
Aside from getting to meet attractive Linn again since his rescue from the 13th Angel incident, Touji was impressed that these foreigners, especially a woman could fight so well. He could tell already from the way that these people were working that it had been a good idea on his part that he had come to this since he could learn a thing or two about actual fighting from the experts.
Despite all this, Touji was still unaware of the current situation regarding Shinji being trapped inside Unit-01 and had assumed that the reason for his friend's absence was that he was in the hospital somewhere in the GeoFront as Touji had seen the results of the last Angel attack and knew just how devastating it had been.
He had just finished watching Linn and Garland take down the group of Section 2 personnel in a sparring match which was held to demonstrate to the Evangelion pilots about CQC training in a likely situation of fighting a group of enemies. Garland was the first to speak as he helped one of the disabled men stand up.
"In the end, it's all about working together, teamwork is essential in efficiently handling being outnumbered in an enemy encounter." Garland spoke sternly to the pilots. "As you have just seen, it's not possible for just one of us alone to be able to hold our own against all five of these guys under normal circumstances. Remember that regardless of how much training and experience you may have, if your enemy has the advantage in numbers they can still overwhelm you. If you're with a well trained and coordinated team, however, you have a better chance of preventing that from happening."
"That should also apply to your handling to the Evangelions as well." Linn inputted, glancing over at Rei sometimes while she spoke. "As you should know well by now from the results of the previous battle, all of you definitely consider learning to team up so as to work as an actual unit against these Angels from now on, especially since it's now an obvious fact to even those of us from FOXHOUND that those things are definitely becoming stronger with each defeat."
"Eagle's right on both assumptions, Rei and Asuka got away with their lives, but we still received disastrous results in terms of handling the battle before the Angel was finally defeated." Venom said sternly as he looked at Asuka. "Particularly from you, Second Child, who charged in at the enemy even after seeing that it damaged your Evangelion to an extent that it couldn't have fought back anyway."
Asuka simply turned her head to the side, gritting her teeth and mumbling in German as Scorpion, who was at a standing distance beside her, spoke.
"Don't interrupt the training. A soldier has to decide for himself when to retreat." Scorpion said coolly as the redhead folded her arms even firmer.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. No need for everyone else to rub it in." Asuka said as Garland came up to her.
"Asuka, I know you're still feeling down after that loss, but you should be thankful that you're still alive to take up today's lessons. That's why we're all here to help you and the First Child so we can start preparing you guys for any other Angel attacks. Whatever the next Angel is going to be like, I'd bet you my life that it will probably be a nastier case than this last one, and that one's defeat could very well have just been a fluke." Garland said to her. "I'm sure you know even better than I do that we can't rely on luck alone against these things. So don't let it get to you."
"Heh, so how does it feel like to have yer pride shot down like that?" Touji asked. "Maybe that will teach ya to start learning some proper manners."
"Shut up, you ape! You're the last person I want to hear from about how I pilot Eva!" Asuka shouted, raising a fist above Touji, as Garland held her back before she caused a fight. From a distance, Venom could only sigh and shake his head before holding his forehead in frustration seeing this.
"If they keep going at each other throats like this, I doubt we'll be seeing them make any worthy progress in the training before another Angel shows up or the terrorists strike again." Venom said seriously.
"You're right about that, we've got to find a way to eliminate the sense of competition among these pilots if they're ever going to get along as a team, just like we do. Asuka's hurt sense of pride is somehow the root of that." Linn said seriously as Michael looked at her.
"You know, Linn, you seem to be holding up well if you've been able to observe the problems that these pilots are having." Venom said as Linn shook her head.
"Maybe that is so, but I'm actually still a bit worried, despite putting up this brave face in front of these people who we're supposed to be training." Linn said solemnly.
"I know what you mean, especially since it's been awhile since we've gotten any word from any of them and Commander Silverburgh is still in conference with the new Commander and Vice Commanders for NERV." Venom said. "I hope that we got some news soon…"
Just as he said that, Meryl Silverburgh, Misato Katsuragi, and Solid Snake entered the training room from the side entrance. The FOXHOUND recruits that were in the room and saw the trio saluted to Meryl as she gave them the 'at ease' hand signal.
"Everyone at ease, I'm just here to deliver some news for you that you've all probably been eager to hear for some time." Meryl said as she sternly looked at Venom. "On our way out of the meeting with the Commander Fuyutski, we've just received a Codec message from Drakken to Colonel Campbell. It seems that his group managed to complete their mission on their end."
"Is that true, Commander? Greg-san and the rest of our friends got through successfully?" Kari looked up with a bright expression on her face, hoping to hear that her friends are okay while Mana did the same. Scorpion looked tense, expecting to hear that his close friend, Gregory Kinezono, and those with him to have made it out of the base safely.
Meanwhile, Linn clenched her fist in anticipation, as unexpectedly, Rei Ayanami came close enough to place a hand on her side and nodding to her silently, causing her to recall what they spoke about before.
"Yes, they were able to accomplish their mission objectives. The said captives were rescued and are now safe and sound under Drakken's watch according to his report at the time he contacted us." Meryl said, causing most of the FOXHOUND recruits in the room to sigh in relief.
"Well, that's certainly good news." Venom said with a smile. "Even though we couldn't directly assist them when they could have used our help, I trusted Greg and the rest of our friends would make the right judgment calls which get them through their mission successfully."
"Yeah, he didn't look it, but he sounded confident enough to have made it happen. Guess I should take him a bit more seriously from now on after he gets back, since I could tell that he's not the same guy from before he left us a couple of days ago." Garland said as he rested a hand on Linn's shoulder. "You can relax now; I'm sure that he must have done real well."
"I know, Garland. I knew all along, somehow, he would have made it happen." With a soft smile on her face, Linn nodded as she spoke to Meryl now. "So, how is Greg? Can we speak to him?"
Meryl approached her with a near sad expression on her face, giving signs to Linn and those around to prepare for the worst.
"Linn, I know you of all people in this room wouldn't want to hear this, but…" Meryl stopped before continuing. "…near the end of their mission, Greg stayed behind with Mantis to get some information while everyone else went ahead. That's when things started to go wrong."
"What are you saying, Commander?" Linn asked as her eyebrows lowered while Meryl sighed. "Something bad happened to him, didn't it?"
Before Meryl can respond, Venom cut in time as he can see Linn was getting unsettled as she was hearing the news from Meryl. "Commander, you said that Drakken sent the message, is he still online?"
"Uh, yes, actually, he wanted to see all of you personally to deliver his report. Then you'll know the truth of what happened." Meryl said as Linn sighed to catch her breath before speaking once more.
"Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go hear what he has to say, since I already have a bad feeling about this." Linn said as she went ahead of everyone else out of the VR room, with a rather distressed look in her eyes.
"She looked more upset than emotional this time." Misato asked. "Will she be okay?"
"Unless she has a good guess as to what has happened to Greg, we can't think of anything else that would bother her." Michael replied. "Well, let's just go and listen in on what Drakken has to say about it and then we'll see for ourselves."
As the group made their way behind Linn towards the hallways of NERV after a brief five minute walk, they were gathered in the conference room, where Riku had been waiting patiently for them to arrive over the Codec line. As he had also seen that Naomi Hunter was also in presence of the remainder of the FOXHOUND and NERV group, he started to explain to them most of the relevant details of the mission to Venom and Meryl.
After a good deal of time had passed, Riku had already detailed to the group about their discoveries in the underground facility as well as on what had happened afterwards during heir escape. Most of the younger recruits were pretty much in shock to find out how much has happened and tried to keep their emotions in check while Linn and Scorpion in particular tried their best to emotionally bear the brunt of the news regarding Greg.
"And that's pretty much what happened, everyone, I only wish I had something better to end this on." Riku sighed as Venom shook his head after hearing the report, especially the news on Greg's current condition.
"It really is unfortunate that something like this happened, from the Hattori girl to Mantis and to Greg. I'm sure seeing Mantis die like that in front of him after all the hard effort he put out today to try to save him must have emotionally drained Greg." Venom said as he looked at Linn. "Linn, are you sure that you're okay with this, even after all that has happened?"
"Well, after hearing that this little rescue mission Greg was in charge of was bigger than it appeared, I'm still trying to comprehend most of it happening because of Reese pulling the strings." Linn said, as she folded her arms. "But for Greg to be the center of one of the Patriots former projects for breeding and creating psychics…it always bothered me why his powers would cause problems in the past, and now I have a good guess why, especially if Riku says that he's slipped into a coma."
"So, you know something about what happened to Greg in relation to his powers?" Riku asked as Linn answered.
"Actually, to tell you the truth, yes. I know of some detail that we've kept from the rest of you." Linn replied. "I have some idea about how Greg's powers can be problematic at times if not checked often."
"So, you do have an idea of what's happening to an extent." Venom said sternly as he looked at her. "Alright then, why not start slowly and tell us more of what you know of these conditions Greg has?"
Linn stayed quiet as she thought to herself about the spot she's been put in.
(Really, you can be quite the handful sometimes, Greg. This is what you get for trying to act cool; I suppose...well, it had to happen sooner or later. I might as well start helping out in my own way, but will everyone here be able to accept the facts that I have to tell them?) Linn thought as she sighed to herself tell her comrades about the truth that she knew…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, inside the Hunter's secret base and laboratory…
Inside a specially built quarantined room, the Japanese woman named Shirakawa was the one in charge of a specialist team that was busy unlocking the electronic security codes in the suitcases that was recovered from Greg Kinezono's apartment from the Hunter unit.
After more than an hour had passed, they were able to bypass the locks and managed to get the suitcase open, causing a cold steam of air escape from inside with a sharp hissing noise.
"Be careful when examining the contents." Shirakawa told the assistants as one of them nodded, reaching inside it with gloved hands. One of them contained a canister of frozen nanomachines in liquid form that were lined up on horizontal metallic lines.
The other suitcase was more unusual than the last one, as it seemed to contain a small assortment of weapons. One of them was a small rifle like gun with an extended suppressor, while the other was a rod that looked like it could be split into three with a circle in the middle. Shirakawa raised an eyebrow as she saw these and almost thought they were similar to the ones the Hunters use.
"Take those into the examination room for testing; we need to know their origins so as to pinpoint how he had access to them." Shirakawa said as she turned around to meet Robert Thorn entering the room.
"So, what's the final verdict, Shirakawa?" Thorn asked sternly as Shirakawa gave her report.
"It appears that the subject, Gregory Kinezono, may have already established contact with the Underground colony, sir, judging by the weapons we confiscated." Shirakawa said.
"Yes, it seems that by some coincidence he's gotten access to their secrets before we can set out to do that." Thorn said. "In any case, it doesn't change the original plan, in fact this little revelation only helps to push things ahead of schedule."
"Then…does that mean that you're going to have to contact Pairon about the advancement of your plan, sir?" Shirakawa asked. "Are you certain that we can trust him?"
"He was the one that showed the most ambition for this project, and covering his tracks for the first time when he went to infiltrate the Underground was simple." Thorn replied. "He just got a little too careless in completing his task, that's all."
"And how do you think that Kinezono is involved with this?"
"It was all in the details, and the description matched him perfectly at the time." Thorn replied. "Which means that Gregory Matthews Kinezono has got a lot more riding on him than just an involvement with being a host for the Soldier X gene."
"As much as I understand your motives for the plan, Mokuren and Shiju both are still in preparations, as for the B.O.W army that's also under the same status…" Before Shirakawa can finish, the lights in the room suddenly turned dark red as a loud alarm rang throughout the facility, indicating an emergency.
"Is it an enemy attack?" Shirakawa asked as Thorn replied coolly.
"No…it's from within our base itself." Thorn said as he walked out of the room with Shirakawa following him at a quick pace.
Moments before, in a training room not so far from Shirakawa's lab…
"Kendall-oniichan?" A young Japanese girl's voice was heard as the Number 2 placed Hunter turned around to see Anna Kakuzawa, wearing a body fitting suit that had metallic coverings on various parts of her body. Two bone-like protrusions that stuck out through her long black hair like horns could be seen as her blood red pupils stared innocently at her tutor.
"What is it, Anna?" Kendall Martin replied seriously holding onto his energy sword. They were in a room that had a series of indentations in the walls and the floor they were standing on. There were also several other marks of violence decorating the room such as large streaks of blood, broken metallic parts of combat machines, and the torn limbs and corpses of chained prison cell clothed inmates.
"I can tell if something's bothering you, onii-chan. Are you remembering something?" Anna asked as Kendall smirked.
"Ah, I was just thinking about the past." Kendall said as Anna looked on curiously.
"Was it about your family, Kendall-oniichan?" Anna asked as he nodded.
"That's right. I was just recalling the times I had with them, even though they were vague." Kendall muttered as he stared at Anna. "I had a younger sister, you know. If she were alive, she would be around your age."
"You miss them, don't you?" Anna asked as Kendall's hair covered his eyes." Like how I miss my daddy too."
"That's right, your old man was killed by the enemy, am I right?" Kendall asked her as she nodded. "I think I know the full details. It was all due to the queen diclonius and her friends that made you all alone, wasn't it?"
"Yes…Lucy was the one who killed papa." Anna said as several vectors, lengthy, invisible hands appeared from her back. "She is my mortal enemy and any one who sides with her is also my enemy, for I remember clearly the one who killed my father and the ones who let him die."
"I understand, Anna. You and I are alike; we both lost loved ones to an enemy of ours. While you lost your father to the queen of diclonius, I lost my family to a failure like Gregory Matthews." Kendall said. "That is why we must get stronger and show the Overboss that we're more than capable of taking those enemies of ours out. The two of us will show them no mercy and no remorse we're finished, got it?"
"Hai!" Anna said as the vectors flew past Kendall and struck a chained man who was trying desperately to escape the room behind them, but he met his end as the vectors cut through his stomach and tore his torso apart, killing him instantly.
"Well, you seem to be getting better at controlling those things. I'm sure I still have the touch as well." Kendall said as he reached out his hand in the direction of a nearby steel cage and clenched his fist, activating his powers and causing the cage itself to crumple into a spiked ball and sent it to crush the bisected man's head into the concrete wall. "Can't let that worthless fodder off without giving them a taste of true suffering first now, can we?"
"Are you two done having your fun yet?" A man's voice called into the intercom system as Kendall looked into the tinted glass in the training room.
"What is it now, Overboss?" Kendall asked himself as Dixon's voice called from the other room. "Did we get another mission already?"
"Kendall, Anna, I'm afraid we've got a situation in one of the experiment rooms where the captured Humaritt is being held." Dixon said through the speakers. "Cease the training for now and come to block D-3 where you'll meet us."
As the communications ended, Kendall looked on at Anna in silence as he opened the door, thinking to himself on what he just heard.
"Something must have happened." Kendall said to himself as he and Anna made their way to the laboratory block where the red emergency lights flashed around on the ceiling. Shirakawa along with Dixon, and Thorn were in front of the glass windows, which was being cracked and splattered with blood.
"What the hell's going on in there?" Kendall asked as Dixon spoke calmly.
"Our team of medical specialists was tending to the captured Humaritt, applying the SX gene that was replicated for her into her system." Dixon said as he looked inside as he can see a berserk Triple B dressed in a hospital gown, attacking a few of the helpless scientists. "Don't worry about the glass, it's been reinforced enough to withstand the powerful blows that this Humaritt can crate, as well as anything that can equal the weight of the human body if anything were thrown against it."
Just then, a female surgeon was thrown at their direction, slamming into the glass instead, and slid off as blood seeped out of her blood soaked hair. Shirakawa stood on in shock as she was watching the carnage happen in front of her eyes.
"See, nothing to worry about." Dixon said as Thorn spoke now.
"Is that all you have to say about this, Dixon?" Thorn said. "Those are members of our precious staff that are being thrashed around like ragged dolls while nothing's being done to stop that humarritt. Or were you just drawing a scientific conclusion about this effect that your SX gene is having on her?"
"It's an opportunity that can be used, wouldn't you agree?" Dixon said simply as Shirakawa gasped at the sight before her. "This was expected for the Humaritt specimen anyway. The SX gene can't be brought fully under control inside the host of an artificial life-form upon first contact."
"Wait, what happened to Joshua-san? Wasn't he in there to supervise the operation?" Shirakawa asked as she heard his voice spoke.
"I'm still in here, trying my best not to let this thing get close to Melissa." Joshua's voice spoke as an unconscious Melissa lay behind him as Joshua was in a fighting pose in front of her and the Tripe B humarritt, which was on a stand off with him. "And don't even ask me to leave my position, Melissa got lucky just getting a brush of this thing's hit, but it looks like it doesn't want to leave any survivors."
"Do you think you can take it down without damaging it?" Dixon asked.
"I think I can arrange that. I've got more than enough ammunition inside this room to help me now." Joshua said as he raised his hand, suddenly the blood pouring out from the corpses that laid and strewn about in the room started to rise into the air, surrounding him.
"Martin-san, aren't you going to help him?" Shirakawa asked as Martin folded his arms, watching through the protective glass with a wry smirk on his face.
"Why should I? It seems to me that he's got things handled for the time being." Kendall replied. "Just watch closely on how he uses his powers, Shirakawa."
Shirakawa stayed silent as she paid close attention to what was unfolding inside the room where Joshua was trapped with the berserk and powerful Humaritt, already drenched in blood, of both her slain victim's and her own artificial.
(I don't want to resort using this, but I'm sure the Overboss wants this thing less damaged than it already is.) Joshua thought as a wave of blood formed around his waist in a barrier like position, as he lowered his hand into the stream of crimson liquid as it soon solidified into a whip like weapon. (Thankfully, she's not one hundred percent repaired just yet, but I've still got to be careful around her...)
Triple B soon dashed at Joshua, mowing down the surgical tables and instruments in front of her, some of them were even sent flying in his direction, but the Hunter reacted as he lifted up a wall of blood from the ground before turning it into a large net, throwing it at Triple B.
"Incredible..." Shirakawa said, as she looked on.
"He's just getting warmed up." Martin said as Joshua then charged at the restrained Triple B and swung the whip at her body, making sure to weaken her enough while she can't move. After hitting her for a number of times, he spilt his blood whip in two and had them solidify into dual batons, as he was going to use these to strike at her next.
"Sorry if this hurts." Joshua said empathically as he raised an arm over her head, but before his weapon even made contact, she suddenly broke through the hardened form of blood and caught the descending baton with her right hand. "What?!"
Triple B snarled at him as she attempted to grab him with her free hand, but Joshua dashed out of her way in time as she started to tear at the net she was captive in and was soon free again. She then threw the net's remnants at Joshua, but he simply put his hand up and the remains of the net suddenly dissolved into liquid blood once more.
Unfortunately for him, doing so created an opening for her, as she made a dash at him, ready to deliver a flying roundhouse kick to his face. Before the blow could land, however, he put his arm up in time to create a small barrier consisting of his psychic powers combined with the blood from his wound, which absorbed the brunt of the blow and cutting the damage he took in half.
Joshua panted for air as Triple B relentlessly pressed on her punches and kicks, hitting Joshua each time with powerful force that no normal human being could withstand. Each time she did, Joshua reacted defensively and put up a barrier of blood around the area to decrease the damage he received.
"Isn't it about time he counterattacked?" Anna asked as Dixon replied calmly.
"Hmph, he's letting the Humaritt get the best of him… if this fight continues at this rate...Martin, Anna, I think its time you step in and help deal with this before it gets even serious." Dixon said.
"Aw, do we have to now?" Kendall groaned as he fixed his weapon. "Alright, then, Anna. Let's go and give Joshua...wait a minute."
As Joshua leaped back from Triple B after she stopped delivering her attack, he opened his palms as large blood drops floated over his hands and started to form themselves into a set of arrows floating in mid air which he then took with one hand while using the other to draw out the bow he was carrying on his back. However, as he took aim at the Humaritt, Triple B's body started to convulse as pink fluids suddenly sprayed out from various parts of her body as she fell onto her knees and held her legs in pain, the same fluid then began leaking out of her eyes as if she was crying.
Joshua eased his aim as he saw that Triple B had reached her limit physically and then remembered that the SX gene implanted in her would reactivate the pain receptors' data in her body if she does this so as to act as a warning guide to her, since her original receptors had been previously destroyed when she was first captured.
(I see, so it looks like she has reached her limit now. At least I'm sure the damage done to her isn't as bad as the first time, so a second check-up to her systems should get her back as good as new.) Joshua thought as he saw how Triple B looked more like a frightened child than a berserker combat machine. In some ways, while he was looking at her trembling, frightened face, it reminded him of Melissa at a younger age.
Sighing a bit, he dissolved the arrows back into blood and returned the bow to its place as he slowly approached the cowering Triple B as she looked around the damaged room and huddled to a corner to stay away from him.
"It's okay now; no one's going to hurt you ever again. Not while I'm around." Joshua said as he knelt down and faced the frightened Humaritt, holding his hand out to her despite fighting back the pain from his own wounds. "I'll take care of you from now on, you did well."
Triple B soon stopped her shivering as she held out her injured arm for Joshua to hold onto as she started to cry out in pain. Joshua then managed to use his other hand to pull out a tranquilizer gun and pressed it against her neck, putting her sleep as she began to snore gently against his shoulder.
"I don't believe it...he managed to tame it and make it listen to his words?" Shirakawa asked, still in shock to see how a powerful and savage battle android like Triple B was subdued like this. Looking at Dixon, she saw him signal Kendall and Anna to enter with a med team as they went to survey the damage done.
"That was quite a performance, Dixon, your psychic managed to put that thing under control before it could do any further damage to my base." Thorn said with almost a hint of sarcasm.
"Sorry if the damages have bothered you, I'll make sure that you'll be well compensated for the trouble. What I really wanted was to make sure that the rumors of Triple B's physical limits were true. It appears that even with her own SX gene incorporated into her system, she still has her limits, though her battle capabilities were impressive." Dixon said.
"Meaning that you have a use for her now, don't you?" Thorn asked.
"With some more testing, as well as an immediate effect of teaching her common and advanced knowledge for battle, she will be set in due time." Dixon said. "Also, she seems to have taken a liking to Joshua who has managed to get through her, even if he didn't have to use his psychic powers to manipulate her mind. I think I will have him and Melissa be the ones to instruct her for the group."
"Hmph, you never really failed to surprise me before, Dixon. At least I can say that the results worked in my favor as well." Thorn said.
"Something we both agree on." Dixon said as he looked at Kendall approaching the exhausted Joshua who was holding onto a sleeping Triple B and his younger sister, Melissa.
"Didn't I tell you that he would get things under control? There was no need for you to get yourself stressed out, Shirakawa." Martin said simply as he walked over to his comrade and patted his back.
"Looks like you've gotten yourself a new pet, Joshua." Martin grinned as Joshua shook his head.
"Whatever, man." Joshua simply replied in an annoyed tone, as he gasped for air. "So, are you two gonna help me clean up this mess?"
"This girl's your responsibility now, so that should be part of your job to look after her. But since you cut out more than you usually do in missions, today I'll make an exception." Martin said as he signaled Anna. "Come on, Anna; let's help Joshua this one time."
"Okay, Kendall-oniichan." Anna replied simply while from a distance, Shirakawa shook with fear as she watched the three psychics conversing normally like this.
(These psychics…aren't normal…could this the real curse of the Solder X gene?) Shirakawa thought as Dixon smiled to himself behind her.
(Things are certainly looking good so far.) Dixon thought to himself as he checked his watch. "Ah, sorry to run off so soon after everything that's happened, but I have a meeting in Kamakura to attend to. I should be on my way."
"Going to check on Aiko, your next Soldier X prodigy?" Thorn asked him. "You've done quite the good job as an actor with her and her mother, but how soon will she be ready?"
"She should be ready given the right amount of time and training. Besides, I don't want either of them growing curious about what plans I have for her, especially if it means using her to get to Lucy later."
"Guess there's no need to rush things yet, we'll give them some more time indeed." Thorn said as Dixon lit a cigar and walked off, leaving the Hunters to tend to their newly joined member, the humaritt, Triple B.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, in the confines of Gregory Kinezono's mind-space…
"Hey, old man…" Greg stopped in the midst of his tracks as he looked in the direction where his father was heading. They had been walking on the dirt track within the un-accessed areas of Greg's mindscape for some time now in silence before Greg made an attempt to speak since the space around them was tense. "Just where are you taking me to anyway?"
"To where it all began…how things came to be when you were first born, Greg." Curtis said simply as they stopped in front of the only building before them, a large house, one fit for a person living of high standards as it had two floors and glass panes surrounding most of its walls, making the insides rooms visible.
"This used to be our home, Greg. You, your sister, and your mother lived in this place that I brought with my income as a researcher. You had a comfortable life at this place." Curtis said as Greg stepped inside the yard with him. "Do you remember some trace of being here?"
"I didn't even think I was living at a place like this to start with." Greg replied as he stopped to hold his temple as a throbbing rang through his head. "Guhh…what the…"
As soon as he said that, Greg felt something being pounded into his mind, as a memory of when he was a young child flashed in front of his eyes. He saw himself playing with his younger sister in the grass yard as their mother looked on before coming back to focus with his father.
"It's coming back to you now, isn't it?" Curtis asked as Greg looked at him in shock. "You saw only a fragment of your childhood past just by coming here, but we're not even close to going deeper into your locked memories since most of what happened in your past are separated from each other, meaning we'd have to go various places within your innermost mind to uncover what you're seeking."
"You mean we've barely touched anything major, huh?" Greg asked. "Was that an effect of my sealing my memories because of my psychic powers?"
"Certainly you should recall what Violent Greg told you before about your unique abilities, but then again, you of all people should know that even as a child, a lot must have happened to make your mind like this." Curtis said as Greg lowered his gaze at his father.
"Don't annoy me anymore than you have to. I wouldn't know about those kinds of things, I wasn't raised to be a scientific genius like you." Greg replied simply to his father as his response. "But from what I can tell with what you just told me, is that there's more than one place containing remainders of my memories and that we've got to visit each of them in order to connect them, am I right?"
"Yes, that seems to be the case in here, since most if it is dominated by Violent Greg's personality." Curtis said as Greg sighed.
(Well then, at least I've got something to keep my consciousness occupied with till help from the outside arrives or when its time to leave this depressing place, I guess.) Greg thought as he started to walk towards the house before them. "Well, shall we get moving again?"
"Of course, we're pressed against time as it is; I suppose I should show you why I had to get the Soldier X project started and its circumstances surrounding it." Curtis said as he stepped into the house ahead of Greg as he followed after him.
Greg stayed silent at first as soon after the younger version of himself and his sister entered the room that they were in as they all heard voices coming from upstairs.
"Curtis, just how much longer are you going to keep ignoring us?" A young woman's voice was heard as two figures walked downstairs, one of them carrying a suitcase. The current Greg's eyes widened as he saw his mother's distressed face.
"O…Okaa-san…" Greg muttered the word 'mother' in Japanese, wanting to shout towards her to let her know that he was there, but the Curtis that was guiding him suddenly spoke to him in a warning tone.
"Don't do it, Greg. Remember that these are only fragments of your memories that we're watching. Besides, none of these people in this room or wherever else we'll visit can see or hear us." Curtis said as Greg shut his eyes.
"Dammit…" Greg muttered in a low tone as he watched the feud go on in front of him.
"You said that the project would be done about a month ago, yet why are you still leaving for days on end to oversee it." Judith Richard Matthews said as the younger version of Greg shut his younger sister's ears and hugged her closely so that she couldn't see and listen to what was happening.
"Judith, you have to understand that the officials of our government are expecting perfect results out of this project, there still some flaws that needed ironing out." The past Curtis said as Judith grabbed his jacket.
"Then, let Dr. Clark and Dixon take care of it. You can trust them to take care of this." Judith said. "How long has it been since you've really stayed with us for one week as a family? We barely see you anymore, and you're spending all of your time now on your work…"
"So, you'd rather that I let this family lose their home and live on the streets instead?" Curtis asked harshly. "If no one else is going to take the responsibility of taking care of you three, how are we going to make it in this world?"
"But, that's not what I meant, Curtis!" Judith said. "If you want me to, I can start working again, so please…"
"No, in your condition, you know as well as I do that you can't do that." Curtis said as he started to walk off. "I'm sorry, Judith, but I'm behind time as it is. I'll call you within a week to let you know how things are progressing."
"Curtis…" Judith cried as the younger Greg suddenly stood in the way of his father's path, trying to put up a brave face.
"What's your problem now, Gregory?" Curtis asked. "Do you have something to tell me as well?"
"Stop…" Greg muttered as he looked at his father sternly, despite his short stature at the time. "Stop making Mommy cry!"
Curtis looked at his son with a stern look before he fixed his hat and spoke. "I see that you've become quite defensive of your mother and sister lately, Greg, keep that up. I'd like to see what happens when I'm prepared for you."
"What is that supposed to mean at the time…?" The current Greg asked as he heard a loud crash of a vase near his father's feet, only to see the younger Greg holding his breath, still trying to bar his father from leaving. It seemed that he was the one who caused the tantrum after seeing his father be so smug to him.
"Please, I beg you…don't make Mommy cry anymore." The younger Greg said once more as Judith cried out to him.
"That's enough, Gregory! You behave yourself right this minute!" Judith said as before the younger Greg knew it, he saw his father turn suddenly at his mother and slapped her, causing her to fall over and hitting her forehead on the coffee table close-by.
"Mommy!" Candice cried out to help her up as the younger Greg grabbed hold of his father's coat and pulled at it as an attempt to stop his father, but before he tried to fight back, he felt a sudden shock near his right eye area as he felt something like glass hit against his head. The next moment, he saw something red and warm run over his right eye as he fell over due to the shock.
Looking up, he saw his father dropping a broken vase before picking up his younger sister from his mother, as he started to walk away from the room in silence, leaving a younger Greg to move slowly to his sobbing mother.
"That's…enough…" The current Greg muttered, at the Curtis with him as the people they were looking at disappeared before them into thin air. "Why did you...?"
"At the time, I wanted you to start growing your feelings of hatred towards me because the project required that a form of hostility was needed within the host to be formed as one of the basis for the Soldier X project." Curtis said.
"You mean…all that you did to us was for me to start…" Greg couldn't believe what he just heard. "That's just ludicrous; you intentionally did all of that for some stupid experiment? It's no wonder that I hated your guts! Even then, you had the gall to hurt my mother and Candice like you did, all because you only cared for your stupid work!"
"All I wanted was for you to understand that I was seeking everyone's best interests, and it meant having sacrifices along the way, as you've just seen." Curtis said as he suddenly found Greg's left hand grabbing hold of the collar area of his shirt as Greg was bearing his teeth at his father with tears in his eyes.
"How can you be calm about showing me what you did, you hypocrite?!" Greg shouted as he tightened his grip. "'Seeking everyone's best interests'…what a load of crock! What kind of family man does that sort of thing in the name of science, huh?"
"Didn't you know? There are more people like myself in this world than you think who would to the same thing to their own kin." Curtis said as Greg lowered his eyes as what Curtis just said reminded him very much of Yukari Imada's father and what he could remember of him from Rio's story, which only ticked him off further.
"Now that you say it, you're just like Yuka-chan's father, it really sickens me to know that I had to be the one to suffer from other people's misfortunes because of you." Greg said. "I just hope you're ready for a serious beating now I'm if I wasn't angry about everything that's happened up to this point because of Reese, I'm certainly am now because of you!"
"Go ahead; you said you wanted to hit me since we're clear of your mother's and sister's presence in their graves, why not take your best shot since you want to so badly?" Curtis asked. "Just know that if you do so, nothing about what you've seen today changes the fact that you still couldn't understand yourself fully enough to have even saved the ones who were involved in the SX project because of both your enemies on the outside world and your own weaknesses. Whether you want to accept it or not, that is part of your responsibility now, Greg."
Greg gritted his teeth as he realized that Curtis was right and released his grip. Anything he did at this point wouldn't change anything concerning the situation regarding the deaths of Yuina Hattori's aunt and Psycho Mantis as he only cursed himself.
"D…Dammit all!" Greg shouted as he slammed his left fist into the wall. (Mother, Candice… and now Tokimi Hattori and Mantis…how could I have failed them when all I ever did was tried to understand who I really am?) Greg thought sadly as he held onto the family portrait closer to his chest and cried silently to himself while his father looked on, wanting to say something to his son, but couldn't and looked away from him instead.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
At another area of the mind-space in the desolate field, Violent Greg started to rise from the muddied ground that he was lying on as he felt the swelling on his cheek from the punch his counterpart landed on him earlier.
"Damn, you have no idea just how much you've crossed me, Greg. Now, you'll really have to pay for getting me this ticked off." Violent Greg said as he rubbed his face as he stood up. "Now where could he have gone off to? It's not possible even for him to leave this place at the moment, so the only other option left for him is…"
Stopping to think for a moment, Violent Greg lifted his head and sneered as a thought hit him.
"Hmm, maybe the battle he had with Mantis DID brought about those kinds of results within his mental barriers that even the adverse effects I predicted would be countered. But for how long, I wonder?" Violent Greg said to himself.
"Well, if that's the way he wants to do things, so be it, at least it will make this little game more fun. Now, I know he's got to start looking for his memories by now, let's make this little trip down memory lane more thrilling, shall we?" Violent Greg smiled as he reached for his chest area and tore off the top clothing he had on to reveal a red, body painted symbol resembling an 'X' covering his entire back area with glyph-like markings sewn around them.
"I'd never thought that I would have to resort using the SX's powers like this, I should have tried it on earlier." Violent Greg spoke as he raised his hand over his face. "Now, Greg….lets see just how you're able to fare in the most unlikely of situations with only two thirds of your current abilities as a psychic combatant cut away from your access…when I turn your worst nightmares into your new enemies."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back inside the former home of Curtis Matthews inside Greg's memory, Greg was musing over and examining the old family photos that consisted of himself, his late mother, and his sister mostly that were placed on the dresser table in the room while his father looked on. They were in silence until Curtis broke it as if he sensed something before his son did.
"Hmmm? This presence…it can only mean…" Curtis turned his gaze behind him as Greg noticed the change in his tone. "So, it's already begun."
"What is it now?" Greg simply asked as Curtis stood more firmly next to his son.
"It's your counter part. He's started to make his move, trying to stop us from advancing further into your memories." Curtis said as Greg looked behind his father's position and into the darkness before them that suddenly appeared in the room.
"What the hell…?" Greg muttered in shock as from the area of darkness, a trail of a dark red-like substances seeped out from it, forming into a large puddle in front of them, covering their exit. The puddle suddenly began to boil in front of them as it started to float upwards, taking form of three, large wolves covered in streaks of black and red fur that built up into a hairy and petrified mane; their jaws were covered and seeped in blood.
"He actually went that far as to summon the Blood-banes, huh?" Curtis replied coolly as Greg stepped back, bouncing the wall behind him. "He really doesn't want you to get out of here so easily."
"Is that what you call them?" Greg asked, trying not to panic. "Just what are they really?"
"They're phantoms, if you want to call them that…created by the negative recess of your sealed memories, from the essence of your powers from Violent Greg's process, no less." Curtis said as one of the wolf-like creatures howled a blood curdled cry.
Battle theme: Nero's battle theme of The Time Has Come from Devil May Cry 4.
(Author's note: As an added bonus, I'm including the lyrics of this hugely infamous and likable song for the DMC4 fans out there who haven't memorized it fully as yet.)
"Damn…just how more bizarre can this day get?" Greg asked himself as he stared at the creatures in front of him intently before he raised his left arm in a defensive posture as he stood near his father.
"I don't know about you, but you'd better stay behind me while I'll try and draw these things away from here." Greg said as Curtis noticed the changed reaction in Greg's face.
"Gregory, are you saying that you'll…?" Curtis asked before Greg replied seriously without looking at him.
"Don't get the wrong idea, old man. This changes nothing on how I look at you, not just yet anyway." Greg said. "I'll need you around some more to help me fully understand on what's going on here, so I can't afford to have anything wrong happening to you till then, even if you're just a memory to guide me around."
Curtis smiled lightly at his son's response as he placed a hand on Greg's left shoulder.
"Even so, in your current condition, you're willing to fight against the odds. You're still like that after all these years when it came to your mother and sister." Curtis said as Greg flustered angrily.
"Damn it, this is so not the time to get sentimental!" Greg shouted as he saw one of the monsters leap at him from the left side, alerting him to react in time by executing a standing roundhouse kick that met with the monster's jaw on impact and sent him flying a distance away. The creature landed on its feet and bared its bleeding jaw at Greg.
(Even if this is still all in my mind, any of my own powers won't do much against these things, now that I don't have the use of nanomachines anymore since I used them all up to get out of that underground base earlier, not to mention that Violent Greg's still in control of things at the moment.) Greg thought. (All that's left is to rely on whatever useful combat skills I can still dish out on these things…and try to outlast them.)
The time has come and so have I,
I'll laugh last cause you came to die.
The damage done, the pain subside,
And I can see the fear clear when I look in your eye.
"Try to get somewhere where they can't get to you, I'll draw their attention." Greg said as he suddenly leaped back through the door next to his side and found himself in the kitchen area of his home which his father behind him as he locked himself into a closet nearby. Finding a chair, Greg propped it at an angle to it can act as a barricade as he looked around the room, thinking of a proper strategy to combat these beings.
(Now this is the kitchen that I definitely remember from the days of my past, but even in this cramped space, there's a big disadvantage between myself and those monsters. To begin with, there's not enough room to control the fighting either above or at my sides, so I've got to limit my movements to the most suitable scenario. Adding to the fact I've only got one arm to work with here only complicates things even more for me.) Greg thought to himself. (I just have to resort to using plain attacks and whatever I can use in here. Now, I need a weapon of sorts, anything that I can use to bludgeon or cut with will suffice.)
As Greg had already made up a plan to defend himself, he found a wooden broom and took hold of it with his available left hand.
"Will this work?" Greg asked himself before he heard the door being broken behind him.
CRASH!
"Here they come!" Greg exclaimed to himself.
The Blood-banes, as his father called them, busted through the wooden door of the kitchen as Greg took a full swing at one of them at the side area, immediately breaking the wooden pole on impact into two. The Blood-bane that was struck yelped as it was thrown violently to the wall behind him, but it didn't slow it down even though it took the full brunt of the blow.
Greg cursed silently as he spun one of the broken pieces to build momentum and then stabbed the splintered end into the fallen Blood-Bane's stomach, a heavy spray of crimson gushing out and ending up on his face and his partially destroyed Sneaking Suit.
As one of the phantoms created by Violent Greg was slain, Greg noticed the other two charging at him, as he threw the other end of the broken broom to stun one of them as he made a quick retreat.
(Not through yet, huh?) Greg thought as he bit his lower lip, looking for the next available object that he could use as a weapon. Luckily for him, he saw a rack of arranged cutting knives near the kitchen sink.
(Well, it's nowhere close to a sword or a staff, but there's no use complaining about preferences at a time like this. This is a now or never situation.) Greg thought as he grabbed the biggest one out of them it had before one of the creatures locked its jaw at Greg's left fist, sinking its teeth into it.
"Guuhhh!" Greg grunted as he felt the pain surged through his body, even though he was still sleeping. It felt so surreal that he thought he was in either a living nightmare or a horror movie.
"Get off!" He shouted as he managed to lift the arm high enough to throw the knife into the air upwards, before slamming the creature down, crashing it into the tiled ground before catching the knife as it fell and started to repeatedly stab the stunned Blood-Bane until it stopped breathing.
I'll never kneel and I'll never rest,
You can tear the heart from my chest.
I'll make you see what I do best,
I'll succeed as you breathe your very last breath.
Panting more heavily than ever now, Greg saw the heavy wound he had on his left arm.
(This is still just a dream, right? Come on, man, this is just another one of 'his' mind games, I can't afford to let him get to me like this out of fear!) Greg thought as he shook his head, trying to remind himself that this was all just something in his head. Doing this made him almost forget about the remaining phantom that was still in the kitchen area, but he remembered it just in time.
Still gripping on the knife he had, he looked around and saw a leather strap on the wall that was used for sharpening blades. It gave him an idea.
Reaching for it, he started to bind his left knuckles layer by layer until they were firm and tight with the knife still clenched in it. Leaving just about three inches of the strap out, Greg saw the last of the Blood-banes charge at him.
"Alright then, how about trying this one for size!?" Greg shouted, as he swung the leather strap upwards, stunning the creature upon hit while the knife cut into him during the strike. Then Greg leaped onto the kitchen table to get himself airborne as he spun his body with the strap at his side, lashing the injured creature with a revolving strike.
"Hyah!" Greg shouted as he landed a hit, then before the Blood-bane landed, Greg was able to land his feet on the phantom's body to deliver a second hit of the same attack.
"Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!" Greg shouted, executing three of the same attacks in succession before rising higher over the creature once more and using his left fist to punch into the Blood-bane's jaw and smashing it downwards into the table below them.
Now I know how the angel fell, (just kneel)
I know the tale and I know it too well, (just bow)
I'll make you wish you had a soul to sell, (soul to sell)
When I strike you down and send you straight to hell.
Falling unto his feet after managing to fell the creature, Greg panted heavily as he rested his back against the wall, trying to catch his breath.
(Just what's the deal with these things? Even my Jump Canceling Swing attempt in this state was hard enough to stop just one of them! Am I going to be facing more of them later?) Greg thought as he suddenly heard more growling from nearby. As he looked, three more Blood-banes appeared as they now surrounded his escape in the already confided kitchen.
"Dammit, I spoke too soon!" Greg spoke said as he mustered whatever strength he had remaining to defend himself, but before he can see that the situation was hopeless, he saw something like a dart being injected into one of the beasts, causing him to suddenly grow bigger in mass before exploding in blue, light energy into a cloud of dust.
"What the…" Greg muttered as he saw his father holding onto an arm strapped bow-gun, almost as large as his body itself and covering the entirely of his right shoulder and arm, shooting out penetrating type arrows that was aimed at the monsters in front of Greg that was soon being destroyed into nothingness in front of him.
"Hmph, those were such awkward creatures indeed." Curtis simply said with a straight face as Greg looked on with his mouth gaping.
(Amazing…he manages to take out three of those things with only one shot from that weapon of his, and I have to go through a nightmare just to slay one!) Greg thought in shock. (To add to the fact that he can sense them before they can arrive…what kind of person was my father anyway?)
"Greg, even within the depths of your own mind, you shouldn't let yourself be so open." Curtis advised as Greg caught himself to what just happened and Greg stared at Curtis.
"Hey, don't go doing things like that if you're trying to win any favors from me!" Greg replied, looking around for more foes that would ambush them.
My army comes from deep within,
Beneath my soul, beneath my skin.
As you're ending, I'm about to begin,
My strength, His bane and I will never give in.
"He's being very relentless today, so be on your guard. There could be others." Curtis said, unloading one of the spent shells of the arrows and loading another into his battle accessory.
"Is he trying to turn whatever is left of my old home into a sort of battlefield for his amusement?" Greg asked as the two saw three other Blood-banes crashed through the window in front of them.
I'll tell you now I'm the one to survive,
You never break my faith or my stride.
I'll have you choke on your own demise,
I'll make the angel scream and the devil cry.
"We'll look into it after we deal with this mess." Curtis said as he simply took aim and fired at the phantom creature which was able to evade the shot, but was met by Greg's right foot as he kicked its face when his attention was averted.
WHAM!
The Blood-bane was sent spiraling away into the wall nearby as Curtis stood closer to his son, their backs facing each other.
"Tell me one thing…just since when you were able to get a hold of something like that, old man?" Greg asked without looking at his father while he spoke, referring to his weapon.
"Ah, if you meant this…I have not studied science for just genetics, but I've also had dealings with constructing weapons in order to protect myself and the family." Curtis said. "My assistant, Richard Dixon…he was the one who introduced me to this field during my early days of the Soldier X project."
"Richard…Dixon?" Greg muttered, as if he heard of the name somewhere before, but before he could continue in trying to recall the owner of that name, the phantoms continued their assault as Greg took one of the chairs and swung it with brute force, breaking it into pieces on one of the Blood-banes.
"If that's the case, why didn't you have something like that when we were attacked by the enemy and I nearly died?" Greg asked sternly as he got no reply from Curtis at first before the man continued.
"I'm afraid that you will have to discover that for yourself when you leave this accursed place." Curtis said as he fired two shots from the bow gun weapon and killed the remaining Blood-banes, leaving quite a bloody scene in the memory of the former home of Gregory Matthews.
"Fine, then. Whatever you say, old man." Greg said in a low tone.
"Okay, that seems to be all of them…for now." Curtis said as Greg sighed, taking a wet towel from the kitchen sink and started to clean off some of the blood from his stained Suit before wrapping it around the wound he'd gotten earlier to stop the bleeding as he sat on one of the remaining chairs to catch his breath.
"Alright, do you mind you start explaining what the hell's going on around here, old man!?" Greg muttered, looking at the slain corpses in shock as his father calmly explained the details as his battle accessory folded back.
"Violent Greg has started to utilize the effect of the SX gene within you and I won't be surprised if he was only experimenting with his new power by testing us just now." Curtis said. "By accessing your recent past experiences and encounters with the negative effects, it was easy for him to be able to create what you see and encountered here."
"So, in simple terms, my Soldier X genes that are currently under Violent Greg's control at the moment are the cause of the appearance of these so-called minions since he's begun accessing my bad memories, huh?" Greg asked. "Why would he do that?"
"As a security measure, to keep possible outsiders at bay in case they tried to interfere with the flow of things since he knows he won't be able to keep you in this state for a longer period than anticipated." Curtis said. "It's as if he's allowing us to proceed with looking back into your memories, but at the same time, reminding us that he's still the one in control. Besides, you of all people should be fully aware of what possibilities that can arise since he can implement the SX gene at least as well as you do."
"Hmph, I don't need the very person responsible for putting me in this predicament in the first place to point out the obvious." Greg snapped in response. "Besides, it's not like it's my fault that I didn't know beforehand, I just found out about this stuff from him. I'm still in the dark when it comes to knowing what happened in my past, in case you didn't know?"
"Well, I'm certain once you fully regain a sense of what's happening, you'll just have to come to terms with it." Curtis said calmly. "After all, you still have the personality of a child, so naïve to accept the things that have happened to you."
"Heh, things always got to be complicated." Greg said with a wry smile as he shook his head while Curtis grinned lightly at him. "As if the situation weren't bad enough before, now I've got these to deal with too."
Greg looked at his father in silence as he simply sighed as he faced the other door in front of them.
"I'd like to get a move on if you're done with the analyzing, please." Greg replied calmly as his father responded. "Not to mention that we both aren't safe here anymore now that Violent Greg's aware of my motives."
"Yes, we've lingered enough at this particular place; we should get a move on since you have a lot to catch up on and less time to do so." Curtis said sternly while he started to walk as Greg looked at the bloody animal's corpses before looking back at his father.
(It looks like I've definitely got some serious catching up to do around here like he said before I can get back to everyone…I hope when I get out of here eventually that they would understand I made the choice to stay like this if I ever have to get a grasp of what happened in my past.) Greg thought to himself, holding onto his new weapons even firmer for safe keeping as he continued walking behind his father's steps out of the house, while unknown to him, he was being watched the entire time…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"My, even since he was brought into this mindscape in his current state, his tenacity hasn't shrunk one bit. To think he'd find a way to fend for himself against the phantoms of his past using only a kitchen knife to get by." Violent Greg said as he looked through a reflection of a broken glass that was in the room that acted liked a camera into the former home of Greg Matthews. "Though it was a shabby, yet effective effort on his part, at least he knows now that this just turned into something that he will have to prove himself for, but will that be enough for the memories that are awaiting him ahead?"
Turning around, Violent Greg clicked his teeth and cracked his knuckles as he started to walk away. "In any case, this means I can proceed with my plans before he catches on with what's really going on, with him being able to freely communicate with the memory of his father and all thus far. I'll be seeing you around very soon, my defiant counterpart."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What kind of plans does this counterpart to Greg's light has in store?!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ShardclawK: Thus ends this newly added, yet shortened chapter of crossover goodness that everyone's been waiting on and things are starting to heat up in terms of story development as we start to see some unique happenings that will soon herald the start of a new arc for this story any time soon, especially with what's going to happen within the halls of the Uruha mansion as the next chapter will reveal. And if most of you hadn't guessed by now from the tragic notions given in the last and this chapter, it looks like Greg won't be around this time in terms of presence to aid his friends until his own problems are resolved for the time being in that little adventure he's having within his mind so far.
Greg: You need to stop pulling mean tricks on the fans on stuff like this…and whatever gave you the notion that I'm enjoying this part of the story?
Shardclaw: Aw, come on, cut me some slack. It's all for the good of increasing this story's popularity, even if it meant taking one of the main reasons that everyone has started to like this story even more, the new you, of course, from the focus for a while. This is all part of my master plan for the revision of the story anyway while still developing your revamped character even further.
Greg: Well, I got to admit that mind scene was intriguing in its own self, especially since Shardclaw-san used that theme straight from his all time favorite game, Devil May Cry 4 on the PS3.
Shardclaw: Man, that song is just balls-to-the-wall awesome. I go nuts every time I hear 'The Time Has Come' which have become my new personal anthem whenever I work on my fiction as well watch the gameplay videos and amvs based with that song as well!
Ran: Then, I suppose this is part of your master plan must mean gaining more girls from various anime and games.
Shardclaw: Well, there's that too, but I wouldn't be among the most powerful and greatest of crossover writers in fiction if I don't have the remainder of the number of girls from the Negima! manga, the girls of Girls Bravo, the .hack series chicks and even most of all, Bleach among my harem, this will be a good time for me to gather my powers to surprise the fans and convince them of my hard work thus far. But if only I didn't have that setback awhile back after posting the last SX chapter, I wouldn't have had to let everyone worry about my status…
Omi: What happened, Shardclaw-san?
Shardclaw: Well, after I posted the last SX update and was in preparations for this chapter and COE's revision which was several months back at the end of '07, my PC monitor of two years died out on me and I was unable to work or do anything on my computer for a good while, so I had to get a replacement for the Christmas season. So, for those who were wondering why I wasn't able to get this chapter in any sooner aside from work, gaming and anime/manga viewing, that's what had happened to me among other things.
Youji: Well, that must really blow, Shardclaw-san.
Shardclaw: Yeah, that really sucked for a while since I was in the middle of enjoying Detective Conan and other anime for fiction purposes and what not…but at least it gave me a chance to catch up on some really decent free and current anime and manga whenever I'm online to browse for stuff. Not to mention having to cut this chapter into two parts since a lot has happened during the Mantis arc, even though I promised the appearance of a few Real Bout characters before, but it will really have to wait until the next update for sure. Sorry to those who were waiting to see the characters from that one to show up, but I promise I will make up for it during the next revised update.
Greg: The boss has so much time on his hands…
Shardclaw: Also over the hiatus, I'm now getting myself involved in playing the .hack series, which I couldn't get to play before because the first four games in the series were not available down here, but thanks to Dark-san's help, I'm getting the chance to enjoy the series. As a matter of fact, I'm planning a surprise for fans of the series that will certainly please many, once I'm ready to play the G. U series soon that is.
Ken: In other words, you've been busy as always during the break, huh?
Shardclaw: You can say that, Ken-san. And the best part of it, since anime has fully established itself down here in Trinidad with more unique titles, I've gotten the chance to finally see the classic Saber Marionette J and Slayers series over the hiatus after having the girls from it for so long while preparing for the new Slayers Revolution series. Hurray for me!
As I said that, Lime, Cherry, Blood-berry, Tiger, Panther, Luchs, Marine and Lorelai, along with Lina Inverse, Amelia Wil Tesla Saillune, Sylphiel Nels Lahda, Filia ul Copt, Martina Zoana Mel Navratilova, and Naga the White Serpent entered the stage, all of them wearing nothing but tight fitting, frilly pink, heart shaped aprons and string thong underwear.
Lime: Shardclaw-sama, how come it took you so long to start looking our show to watch?
Shardclaw: For one thing, I was not able to actually find the series on DVD just yet until recently, but luckily for me, free anime access sites like pisoga and crunchyroll have given me chances to look at most anime for free, so I had a bit of trouble sticking to just one anime at a time since there were so many others to choose from, especially with some of the others that will also be crossing into this story later on, meaning that there's going to be another update in the casting list in time to come.
Lina: Either that, or you were too fatigued to let us play with you after getting ganged up by that large group of girls alone in your recent COE revisions.
Shardclaw: In any case, until the time comes that I can announce whether you fanboys out there will be seeing those two later on in SX, you'll girls will have to keep up your best in giving me the support I will need to make this year even uber for this revised story and COE as well, so I'm counting on each and every one of you to give it your best it your best, Lime-chan, Cherry-chan, Lina-chan, Amelia-chan Sylphiel-chan and Naga-chan.
Naga, pressing her ample chest against Shardclaw's right cheek: Heh, leave it to us, Shardclaw-sama.
Tiger, pressing her own chest against Shardclaw's face as well from the left: Yes, the pleasure is all ours. Do whatever you can to keep on pleasing the fans as well, punishing the wanker-men on your list.
Panther: And you know what? That just happens to be our biggest turn-on.
Sylphiel: I know it may be out of character for someone like myself to use sex appeal to inspire one as great as you, Shardclaw dear, but I'll do my utmost best to pleasure you since you've grown to be quite an awesome writer through these revisions.
Shardclaw, swallowing hard as he hears this: Now, now ladies, don't let simple acts from one such that be your weakness. I still have to think of what to include in terms of crossover interactivity for the next set of chapters ahead, along with what I can do to COE as well…
Lime: Well, I guess we'll just have to convince you some more on how serious we are on helping you as well as making that choice for those requests happening to make the fans happy, then, Shardclaw-sama.
Cherry: I guess I'll help myself as well, I hope you're prepared for our 'special service' now that you've gotten a good idea of our hyperactivity.
Lina: Not to mention, ours, as well my ravenous appetite! Besides, since you made Celica-san and her closest friends your personal dessert plates in the omake of the first revised chapter for COE, its only fair that we return the favor and treat ourselves to you, ne?
Shardclaw: Wait, Lime-chan, Lina-chan, Cherry-chan…what's that supposed to mean?!
Amelia: No complaints! You can use us as practice until the next update of either this story or COE. Besides, with the recent birthday shipment Dark-san sent, who knows that if he has already considered the girls from one of your recently completed current favorite eroge games, Bazooka Café, that you've been playing during the revision hiatusas future shipment incentives, that's if you behave well like you used to.
Shardclaw swallows at the thought of getting ganged up by the female cast of large and ample bosomed girls of that game eventually, and recalls what he went through during the Valentine Special bonus of the game, thus weakening his guard for the Saber Dolls and Slayers girls to attack him.
Shardclaw: Ikou. (Gulp.) I might as well take the offer while Lina's in the good mood, or else my base will fall victim to one of her powerful spells if she and her friends don't get to satisfy their appetite soon...after seeing Lina's capabilities as a socresess, I don't want to be caught up in a Dragon Slave blast from her...its either this or the other for me.
Cherry: Take….that!
GLOMP!
Shardclaw: You overly energetic chicks…it's not fair you tempt me like this…auugh…
With that, the author passes out from getting double teamed from Lime and Cherry's passionate love-tackles; there was a mini catfight amongst the group of girls.
Lime: Now, now, girls…I'm sure Shardclaw-sama won't let a thing like that make him pass out completely. Now, let's just wake him back up in the bedroom, so each and every one of us can all have our turns with him.
As the writer gets carried off by the group of girls, Greg and the Weiss males sigh as this was a common routine to them now.
Ken: I suppose it's the right way to keep him under control while he hosts these chapters, right?
Greg: Anything to prevent any more ecchiness in these omakes from getting even crazier than it is, I guess. That's is if he hasn't started to watch the next best classic anime series around, The Slayers, by now, since those girls from that series are planning some ambushes on their own in an omake one of these days, especially when you consider Lina, Amelia's and Naga's appetite for 'meat'.
Ken: Let's just hope Shardclaw-san will still be alive at the time to give us that update since he seems to be having so much fun getting ganged up by so much lovely girls during these revisions…who knows who would attack him in the next revised chapter.
Greg: Feel free to leave any suggestions and comments, as well as notices for corrections that you may have for this story and COE as well since there's plenty of room for ideas this time around now that the Metal Gear Solid series has come to an end.
Ran: We'll see you readers again in the next X.