CRACK!
From anywhere in the halls, one could hear the cracking whip as Boris took out his seemingly endless fury on Faye, whose only response was a grunt.
"YOU MISERABLE FAILURE!"
CRACK!
"HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE LOST!"
CRACK!
It kept up for quite some time until Boris was too tired to raise the whip again. It was silent except for the clumping footsteps on the hall floor. A moment later, a very battered and severely wounded Faye emerged from the torture room, bleeding and wounded, but very pissed off and ready to kill anyone that got in her way, despite the pain screaming from every nerve in her worn out body. Without a word, she passed by the others' rooms. The doors opened to see their co-captain, and not one of them didn't gasp. Boris was pretty tough on them as it was, but none of them had ever been that brutally beaten. Even Garland knew better than to say anything. Brooklyn's door opened as well as Faye walked past. His door was right next to hers, and being so well reminded of what she had done for him the other night, couldn't help but venture out and listen through the keyhole to see if she was ok.
Exhausted and badly weakened from the grueling whipping session, Faye collapsed onto her stomach on the bed, letting her face fall into the pillow. Everything hurt, her arms, legs, back, head, the list went on and on. She heard the door open and close quietly.
"Faye?" Someone asked softly.
"What do you want, Brooklyn." She groaned.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"If anything, put me out of my misery."
She felt one side of the bed sink down a bit from extra weight.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, but I can clean you up."
Faye said nothing as the same ritual repeated itself from last night, only this time it was the other way around for the patient and doctor. Faye growled slightly when a sharp pain went shooting up her back.
"Sorry..." Brooklyn muttered.
Before long, he finished cleaning up the blood and bandaged up the wounded co-captain.
"Boris has never been that hard on any of us before... what the hell did you do?"
Faye growled.
"If I tell you, you have to swear on your life that you won't tell a soul, even if you're being tortured to death."
"That's oddly specific, but you have my word."
Faye sighed and began her story.
"Well, for starters, I'm not entirely human..."
"Sir, Project DELTA is complete. So far, Branzer Genesis is functioning well."
"Good, bring me the Project." The scientist disappeared into the room where the Branzer Line was being created. Branzer Genesis, though mere minutes old, was grown so that when completed would be harvested as a 17-year-old teenage girl. When the scientist brought her in, she had on only a white lab coat from one of the others, and she was still soaked with the green liquid that was keeping the other, premature Branzer Projects in suspended hibernation. Branzer Genesis was still shaky on her feet and had to be held up by the scientist. Boris smirked.
"Welcome to Balkov Abbey, 47826 DELTA." He said with a sneer.
"At the time, I couldn't understand a word he was saying. I was born like I am right now, but I still had the mind of a newborn. I didn't understand anything, but that changed quickly."
Day after day after day of training blurred into months as Branzer Genesis, aka Faye, learned and trained quickly and furiously. One half year after her creation, Branzer Turnabout was created, and by that time, Genesis had the IQ of a college graduate thanks to several upgrades. While Branzer Genesis was training, she didn't know until a year or two later that her superior, Branzer Leviathan, was in fact the oldest and most powerful.
"To this day I still don't know who Branzer Leviathan is."
"But how does that have anything to do with Boris hitting you?"
"The fact that almost every muscle in my body is a an ultra light titanium alloy substitute, and the only way to cause pain is to whip me until I bleed all over the floor. My failure: Losing a fight to Branzer Renavatio, my target." She growled.
Brooklyn remained silent for a moment.
"I know. I'm a freak of nature."
"I don't think so."
Faye looked up from the pillow and stared intently at Brooklyn.
"Are you just saying that because you feel sorry for me? Because I don't need anyone's sympathy."
"I'm just saying that because you're still human and are being treated like a machine."
Faye hadn't been expecting that kind of answer and just lay back down.
"Good night." Brooklyn said as he got up and left.
For a while, Faye lay there, thinking, until she was finally consumed by a dreamless sleep.
Waking up early the next morning, Faye groaned as she smashed her fist down onto her useless alarm clock. It made a satisfying "CRUNCH" at the force of her fist, making her smirk as she got up out of bed. She dressed quickly –navy blue cargoes with torn knees, a black ¾ sleeve midriff and her machine-like gauntlets- and immediately went outside. The others wouldn't be up for another hour or so, giving Faye an hour to do whatever she felt like. Feeling an unusual sense called freedom, she walked through the forest through to a hill that headed down into a valley. The sun had started to rise, and just for the helluvit, she lay down in the slightly damp grass and put a piece in her mouth. A rare window of free time meant a lot to her, so this was the perfect opportunity to be alone.
"You're up rather early."
Or not.
"Hn." She muttered, putting her hands behind her head and closing her eyes.
Faye heard Brooklyn sit down beside her. For a moment, it was silent, and just out of curiosity, she opened one eye to see him staring out at the painted sky stained purple, pink and orange with the rising sun. She closed her eye again, resuming her position. A soft tweeting was coming from her right where Brooklyn was sitting. She opened her eye again to see that he had a jay on his finger.
"I assume you like birds." She said just to break the silence.
"Mm-hmm..." He mused half-mindedly.
Faye sat up and took the grass out of her mouth, emitting a series of shrill notes like several kinds of birds. In a matter of moments, there must have been about 50 birds perched in different places on her arms, feet, shoulders, head, and wherever there was room. Brooklyn had an amused look on his face when Faye withdrew leftovers from breakfast, a half of a piece of bread, and tossed it out in crumbs in front of her. All the birds flew off her at the bread, making Brooklyn laugh. Faye lay back down in the grass and crossed her legs, putting her hands behind her head again with the piece of grass in her mouth again.
"You got a thing for animals." Brooklyn mused.
"Yep. Comes with the Gift."
Brooklyn shrugged as the bird on his hand flew away, leaving him free to copy Faye and lay back in the grass, hands behind his head. He looked to his left to see that Faye was staring intently up at the sky, like she was looking for something.
"Faye?"
She snapped out of her trance-like stare and murmured a "Sorry..." before closing her eyes.
"Are you ok?" He asked, slightly concerned.
"Mm? Oh... yeah... I guess..." She muttered in an unreadable tone.
Brooklyn rolled over so he was lying on his side, propping his head up with one arm.
"You're hiding something." He said somewhat accusingly.
"So? I have the right to have a secret, don't I?" She retorted.
"True, but considering that you trusted me enough to tell me your life's story, and you're zoning out, I think I have a right to know."
Faye sighed without opening her eyes.
"I just wonder sometimes... What's my purpose? Am I just some machine forced to work until I can't anymore? Do I even have parents? And what the hell is the meaning of MY life? I can't tell. As far as I know, my life is totally, completely, and utterly pointless. Always has been, always will be."
Brooklyn just studied her for a moment, dwelling on what she'd said. Looking over her, her expression was emotionless and betrayed nothing. Her jet-black bangs that hung in her face moved a bit in the breeze, framing her face. Her strong arms were still in a hands-behind-the-head position as his eyes moved further down. For supposedly not being fully human, she had perfectly human features such as feminine curves, smooth skin, and other womanly features that shaped her.
"My eyes are up here if you don't mind." She said icily.
"Er, sorry..."
Faye just sighed and stared up at the sky again. This time, rather than a focused look, it was more of a dreamy gaze.
"What are you thinking about?"
"I dunno, just... thinking..."
Brooklyn stared up at the sky as well and found his thoughts wandering to completely unheard of places that he hadn't thought about before. It was strange, not being able to place where his thoughts wandered. He looked over at Faye again, who seemed perfectly contented looking at the clouds. A strange feeling twisted into a knot in his stomach.
What am I doing?
Brooklyn couldn't quite place what the feeling was, but forced himself to snap out of it when he heard someone calling Faye's name. She sighed and got up.
"Damn bastard Boris." She growled, checking her watch. "Great. We killed 35 minutes."
She walked away to the direction of the BEGA HQ. Brooklyn followed from a distance, trying to avoid being seen. Faye walked out into the backyard where a very pissed-off looking Boris stood waiting. He started shouting at Faye in Russian, she only staring at him as if she just wanted to slap him. All of the sudden, he swung a roundhouse at Faye, who, rather than dodge or block, allowed herself to get hit in the face. Still, she did nothing. Boris spat out something in Russian again, and Faye walked off.
Heading back inside, the side of Faye's face throbbed from the hit. She heard footsteps behind her and looked over her shoulder to see Brooklyn jogging to catch up. She just kept on walking.
"Faye!"
Faye increased her pace.
"Faye!" Brooklyn broke into a run after her.
Faye broke into a hard sprint down the hall with Brooklyn in hot pursuit. She bolted up the stairs, leaping up them about 4 at a time. Brooklyn wasn't far behind as she ran for her room. In her blind rush, she didn't realize just how fast Brooklyn was and that he was gaining rapidly. She looked over shoulder again to find him only a few feet away. Sliding around the corner of the hall, she kept on running towards her room.
Whatever Boris had said to Faye, it had made her upset enough to try and run away from Brooklyn. She whipped open her door, but being as close as he was behind her, managed to slip inside her room as she slammed the door shut.
Slamming the door closed, Faye turned around to find herself face-to-face with Brooklyn. She sort of fell back against the door, turning her head so he couldn't see the cheek Boris had hit.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Faye." He said softly.
She eyed him suspiciously.
"I promise." He crooned, gently stroking her cheek with one hand.
Faye sighed in defeat and turned her head. A nasty blue-black bruise took up a good portion of her cheek. Brooklyn softly touched her cheek, his eyes betraying deep sympathy.
"Now I know something's going on... Faye, unless you let me, I can't help you."
She narrowed her eyes, her expression angry and loathing.
"Just leave me alone! You wouldn't understand!" She yelled, eyes glassy with tears.
She fell back against the door, hugging herself, forcing her eyes not to let her tears fall.
"Faye..."
He took the dragon in an embrace, holding her protectively against him. Though she wouldn't admit it, Faye actually was glad for his sympathy. The first tear she had ever shed in years fell silently down her bruised cheek.
"It's ok... You've been hurt, it's ok to cry." He crooned softly, stroking her hair.
Faye buried her face into his shoulder, letting the tears fall silently. She could feel his heartbeat against her chest... he was worried about her. For a while, they stayed like that, the only sound being Brooklyn's assuring Faye that it was ok to cry when you've been hurt. Faye sighed, too stubborn to let down any more tears than already shed. Brooklyn rested his chin on the top of her head, smiling. Whatever feeling that he had felt earlier, it was stronger now, but in a good way.
Whatever it is, it has to be her doing it.
It was at that moment that he made a silent vow to himself to protect Faye, and find out what it was in this girl that gave him such a feeling.
It was late that night as Brooklyn lay awake thinking.
What's wrong with me? Why do I always get so weird around Faye?
You're developing feelings for my mistress. A dark voice said.
Apocalyptica?
Lyptica if you prefer.
Why are you talking to me? Won't Zeus-
Zeus doesn't give a shit about me talking to you.
Hm. Why are you here?
Because I heard you thinking and Faye has been asking herself the same questions. In a different context, that is.
What do you mean?
I mean she's crushing on you and visa versa.
Are you serious?
Nope, I just felt like annoying you. OF COURSE I'M SERIOUS.
Well, what should I do?
Same thing you've been doing, being nice to her.
Whatever you say.
The next day was pretty quiet for the most part, but Faye refused to take part in anything that involved her talking to anyone. She was still extremely sore from the other night when she had been whipped so mercilessly. Garland was taking every opportunity to try and get her pissed off, but his efforts proved unrewarding. The entire time that Brooklyn had the team training, she was sitting out, absentmindedly fiddling with her blade, never taking her eyes off Apocalyptica's bit chip. Time seemed to fly faster than usual as the team finished their training. While the others were resting, Garland took the opportunity to try and get on Faye's nerves.
"So, the co-captain thinks she's too good for training, huh?" He remarked snidely.
Faye didn't respond, just kept messing around with her blade. Her silent manner was really what got on his nerves, that and the way she almost never reacted to anything he said.
"What the hell is so interesting for you to completely ignore everything?" He demanded, looking at the blade in her hands.
"The fact that it's taking my last ounce of willpower to keep from killing you." She replied calmly.
"Pfft. Like you could."
That struck a key. Faye looked up, showing her eyes which had irises narrowed into slits the way a reptile's eyes did when mad.
"Try me." She growled softly. Her tone was so silent it was deadly.
Garland smirked.
"C'mon, hit me with your best shot."
Faye's bit chip started to glow making a blood red aura surround her. In one lightning-fast move, she had landed a kick hard enough to make Garland land on his back on the ground.
"You wanna tell me that again, or will you take that back before I do some real damage?"
"Yeah right. You and what army?"
"You don't wanna know."
Garland leapt up to his feet, using whatever martial arts moves came to mind. Faye dodged each on with amazing speed and grace, making it look almost easy. Garland swung one punch, Faye catching his fist easily.
"How many times to I have to kick your ass before you figure it out that you can't beat me? It's getting dull."
"Really?" He said with a smirk. "I don't think so... Branzer Genesis."
Faye's eye twitched.
"You really are a freak of nature."
To everyone's shock, as the bit chip on her blade started to glow furiously, her fingers sharpened into claws, her eyes became wild and dragon-like, and two wings unfurled from her back, ones exactly like Apocalyptica's only scaled down to her size. A black aura surrounded her as her two canine teeth sharpened into fangs.
"TAKE. THAT. BACK." She growled, letting go of his fist.
"And if I don't?"
She bared her fangs and emitted a low threatening growl. It wasn't the normal kind of growl, it was the kind Apocalyptica made.
"LAST CHANCE." She snarled.
"Whatever."
That snapped something inside her, and in a movement so fast it was only a blur, she had Garland pinned to the ground with a foot on his chest and had one of her hands at her side clenched into a fist that was surrounded by a black aura.
"TAKE IT BACK!"
"OK, OK! I TAKE IT BACK!"
Faye's eyes returned to normal and the black aura disappeared. Without another word, she walked away. The others stared in the direction she left in, absolutely dumbfounded. Brooklyn took off after Faye, who hadn't gone far by the time he reached her.
"Faye?"
She whirled around to face him, eyes blazing.
"You've seen me already, ok! I'm a monster!"
"Don't talk like that, you just lost your temper a bit."
Faye laughed at him derisively.
"HA! You have no idea what my temper looks like, that was nothing. He was right; I AM a freak of nature." She practically growled the last part.
Her eyes were becoming reptilian again, and she was starting to lose her temper again.
"WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" She yelled as she beat her wings.
The impending winds created a whirlwind around her as the rest of the team came into the area.
"What the hell's going on!" Mystel shouted over the roar of the wind.
"I don't know!" Brooklyn shouted back.
The winds were growing in force, making it very hard to stay in their places without getting blown back. The whirlwind was starting to turn black as Apocalyptica started to take control of Faye. Brooklyn turned to Mystel.
"Go back to the HQ and ask for the one called Branzer Leviathan!"
Without question, Mystel bolted in the direction of the HQ.
It didn't take long for him to get to the HQ, but the Egyptian had to ask about 10 people before he found the one called Branzer Leviathan.
Room 153... 154... 155...
He finally came to Room 156. Throwing open the door, he found a girl not much older than Faye sitting at her desk apparently working on something on her laptop.
"Are you Branzer Leviathan?"
She looked over her shoulder and gave him a raised eyebrow look.
"Why?" Her tone was soft and dangerous.
"Faye's completely lost it!"
"Faye?"
"Branzer Genesis!"
The girl immediately leapt up from her desk.
"Lead me to her."
Brooklyn and the others were still running and ducking for cover from the gale force winds that Apocalyptica's control over Faye had caused, and now bolts of black energy were shooting out from every angle.
"Guys!"
Brooklyn looked over his shoulder to see Mystel with a girl of probably 18 or 19 years old running behind him, Branzer Leviathan. The girl broke into a hard sprint right past the BEGA Team, surrounded by a black aura that made the random shots of black energy bounce right off her. As soon as she was close enough, she leapt into the tornado, colliding with the hazy figure of Faye and tackling her to the ground on the other side. With her focus broken, the whirlwind lost a dramatic amount of force. Now in plain sight, the team could see Leviathan struggling to wrestle Faye to the ground. She was fighting back by attempting to get Leviathan off, but the older girl was much stronger and was overpowering her.
"Cool it Genesis!" She snapped.
Leviathan had her pinned firmly to the ground with a knee on her back, holding both her hands down. Faye was breathing heavily, no longer struggling to get away, a few incensed tears streaming down her face. Leviathan eased up a bit and let go of one of Faye's hands, pulling something from the left pouch on her belt. Whatever it was, she kept it concealed in her fist and brought it to the back of Faye's neck, and whatever the thing did, it knocked Faye out cold. Leviathan put the thing back in her belt and got up off of the now-unconscious Branzer Genesis. The wings on her back disappeared, and her clawed hands and fangs returned to normal. Without a word, Leviathan hauled Faye onto her back, walking back to the HQ and leaving the shocked BEGA Team behind.
"What happened?" Boris demanded when Branzer Leviathan, aka Seya Ruvloff, came in with Branzer Genesis out cold on her back.
"Genesis flew off the handle." She said flatly.
Boris ran a hand over his hair.
"Take her into the lab. DELTA is our only option I suppose, unless the program she was working on is functional."
Seya said nothing as she took the elevator underground into the lab. It was empty for the present moment, thankfully. It made things easier with nobody around. Genesis groaned, then opened her eyes.
"I can't move..." She muttered.
"I know. That shot temporarily paralyzed you." She responded bluntly.
Genesis didn't say anything else as Seya placed her on the table normally used for operating, but in this case it was for other purposes. Firing up the computer, she attached the ports to Genesis' forehead, the ones that would transfer the DELTA Upgrade effects into her head. Seya had taken the liberty of altering the program so that rather than being the one to give life to Projects, it now kept them under control. At least, the ones those were here. She still remembered the night that Branzer Renavatio broke out and took Branzers E-Fusion, Turnabout, and Genesis II with her. The machine beeped several times, signifying that the download was complete. Genesis was still awake, but just barely. Leviathan detached the ports and picked up the paralyzed project, carrying her back upstairs and putting her in her room until Genesis was no longer paralyzed.
While the others were too scared to come near Faye's room, Brooklyn worked up the nerve to walk up to her door and knock.
"Faye? Are you alright?"
He heard a sigh.
"You just don't know when to give up do you?"
Brooklyn opened the door to see her lying face up on her bed, not moving at all.
"Well, you might as well come in, I can't stop you."
"Why not?" He asked, sitting down in her desk chair.
"Because I'm paralyzed from the neck down for half an hour until this goddamn shot wears off." She replied bluntly.
For a moment, they sat there in silence until Faye tried to blow a raven black lock of hair out of her face. Brooklyn got up from her chair and sat down beside her on the bed, brushing the hair away from her face, but rather than stopping there he started stroking her hair away from her face.
"There's no getting rid of you, huh?... Why are you being so nice to me?"
"I'm returning the favor."
"You already did."
"So? Why do I have to stop there?"
Faye said nothing. Brooklyn just kept stroking her hair away from her face, giving him the opportunity to study her face. Her expression remained the same, emotionless and unfeeling. A thin line formed her mouth, but what really got his attention were her black eyes. They were completely black, but they looked so empty and cold, almost like there was nothing in them at all. She was staring up at him with a fierce look in her eyes, one that was telling him that she was too stubborn to admit she needed help.
Brooklyn was looking intently into Faye's eyes, like he was searching for something she wasn't telling him. His own blue ones wouldn't tear away from hers, and for some reason, they were flickering. Faye jerked to the side a bit, and with a lot of difficulty, managed to sit up. Brooklyn put an arm behind her back to hold her upright.
"You're hiding something, and whatever it is, I have the feeling I really should know." He said stubbornly.
She stared at him with an intent glare.
"You wanna know what my problem is?"
"Yes, I do."
Before he could react, she kissed him... right on the lips. She pulled back after a second, Brooklyn looking at her with an expression of shock.
"You probably think I'm really stupid right now."
Of all the possible training she had ever been through, nothing could have prepared her for the response Brooklyn gave her. Before she could react, he leaned forward again and gently kissed her on the lips. Faye practically reeled at the sudden rush of feelings that swept through her. She wasn't used to such emotions, let alone ones this powerful. Seeming to sense her uneasiness, Brooklyn pulled back. The two looked at each other a moment in an awkward silence.
"Faye... what happened back there?" Brooklyn asked, breaking the silence.
"I don't know... I got mad, then I just sort of lost it." She murmured.
She suddenly slammed her fist on her nightstand, making a CRUNCH sound, suggesting that she nearly broke it in half.
"And it's all because of the SHIT Boris put me through." She growled.
"Why don't you do something about it? He hurts you, and you shouldn't have to put up with it. You're way stronger than Boris, you can fight back."
"I can't." She growled softly.
"Why not?"
"It's been hardwired into me for 16 years."
"I thought you were 17."
"That's the age I was made be when I was created. I won't start aging until the day of my 17th birthday."
"Which is?"
"About a year from now, so in reality, I'm really only 16 years old."
Brooklyn paused, his expression showing he was thinking.
"I know, it's sort of confusing. Just one other thing. Faye isn't my real name, and I don't know what it is."
"Interesting..."
There was another pause.
"Dammit." Faye growled at herself.
"What's wrong?"
"Branzer Leviathan still has Apocalyptica." She replied while trying to get up.
When she had succeeded in leaning heavily on the wall, she forced herself to take a step or two before collapsing to her knees from exhaustion. Whatever Leviathan had injected into her bloodstream, it had drained her of nearly every last shred of strength the stubborn dragon had. Brooklyn managed to help her up to her feet with one of her arms draped over his shoulders and his arm around her waist.
"Faye, you're in no shape to be going after your bit beast right now. You can't even stand on your own."
Faye stared at him with a stern expression.
"Brooklyn, I need to get Apocalyptica back. Of all the shit I've been through, Apocalyptica was always there for me. He made sure that I kept going and never let go. It's my turn to be there for him." She said with an evocative tone. "You have no idea what they've done to my dragon and I refuse to let it happen again as long as I'm so close to stopping it."
Brooklyn sighed in defeat.
"Alright. But we'll move faster if I carry you."
Brooklyn pulled Faye onto his back and pulled open the door.
"Where to?"
As the duo moved further and further below ground into the dark recesses of the subversive lab, Brooklyn was starting to get a little nervous. Slowly, he opened the door at the end of a long passageway to find the laboratory that Faye had been leading him to. Nobody was there, at least, nowhere in sight. He let Faye down so that she was leaning on him again, though not as heavily as before. ("I heal fast.") Her eyes were darting in every possible direction. She closed her eyes, then opened them after a moment.
"Over there." She whispered pointing to the left.
The two walked in the direction as silently as possible, and to Faye's utter shock, in front of them was a glass container filled with a green liquid and in the middle of it was a scaled-down version of Apocalyptica, curled up into a ball as if trying to enclose itself in its wings like a shield.
"Lyptica..." Faye murmured sadly.
Brooklyn looked to the bottom of the glass encasement to see Faye's blade, the Apocalypse X, locked into the base.
"How are you going to get it out of there?"
Faye responded by standing fully upright with whatever strength she had left and placed the palm of her hand against the glass, eyes closed. She was surrounded by a dark red aura, which enveloped the glass, cracking it until the glass shattered and the green liquid came flooding out all over the floor. Heavy footsteps could be heard clomping down the hall at a rapid pace, alerting both bladers. Out of pure instinct, Brooklyn grabbed Apocalyptica out of the clamps in the base and pushed Faye behind a large machine beside him, well out of sight where she sat in a crouched position, wearing a surprised and confused expression. The door slammed open, and much to Brooklyn's dismay, it was Boris.
"Brooklyn!" He bellowed, face reddening with visible rage. "What the hell are you doing down here!"
"I, uh…." Brooklyn stuttered, the hand containing Apocalyptica hidden behind his back.
"What's this!" Boris demanded, grabbing Brooklyn's arm, revealing the Dark dragon. Boris glanced at the shattered glass and smirked sinisterly.
"So, you like breaking things, eh?"
Boris drew back a fist to strike Brooklyn, who shut his eyes expecting to be hit.
"Don't you DARE touch him!"
Brooklyn opened his eyes to see Faye standing in front of him, arms spread protectively. Her intense black eyes were ablaze with righteous fury, and she looked about ready to kill Boris for even thinking of hurting him. Boris smirked.
"So, you're willing to take the fall for him."
Faye narrowed her eyes in defiance.
"Do what you like to me, but no one hurts Brooklyn when I have something to say about it, especially to a bastard like you." She snarled.
Brooklyn was very much surprised by Faye being so protective of him, but was careful not to show it.
"Brooklyn, get out of here." Faye muttered under her breath.
Reluctantly, he left as Boris' shadow advanced on Faye's on the wall.
"I don't believe it."
"Oh yeah!" Brooklyn yelled at an indignant Garland. "Faye protected me from Boris, and-"
Garland cut him off by waving it off and folding his arms again. The rest of the team looked on as the redhead and the team captain continued to argue.
"You listen to me you arrogant bastard, just because you don't like Faye doesn't mean you have to be a stubborn jackass!" Brooklyn snarled.
Garland was about to shoot a comeback when the door at the end of the hall opened. A dark figure walked lamely out into the hall, a pair of black eyes shooting a dark death glare at Garland, then they limped to Faye's room and weakly shut the door. Brooklyn walked towards Faye's door, but Garland held out an arm and stopped him.
"As team captain, I'm forbidding you to see her at this time."
Much to everyone's shock, Brooklyn whirled around and slugged Garland a roundhouse hard enough to bloody his nose.
"Don't you ever tell me whether or not I can see her!" He growled threateningly.
To Garland's smug amusement, the door was locked.
"Well, I hope you're happy." Brooklyn hissed before walking into his own room, slamming the door behind him.
The rest of the team glared at Garland. He sighed in defeat.
"Alright, fine. I'll try to talk to her." He sighed.
Garland sauntered over to Faye's door and knocked on the door.
"Faye? Could you unlock the door?"
It was absolutely silent.
"Faye?"
Something was very, very wrong about the stillness of it.
"Faye, open the god damn door or I'm breaking it down." He growled.
Deadly silence.
"You asked for it."
Gathering all his strength, Garland rammed his shoulder against the door as hard as he could, breaking the door down after 3 tries. He gasped at what he saw lying on the ground.
From out in the halls, the rest of the BEGA Team was shocked as Garland came running out of Faye's room with her in his arms, blood pouring from countless, severe wounds all over her body.
"Somebody call an ambulance!"
Ming-Ming whipped out her phone as Brooklyn threw open the door to his room and his eyes widened when he saw Faye lying unconscious and bleeding in Garland's arms. An ambulance arrived shortly and rushed the dragon off to the hospital.
It had been nearly an hour since the BEGA Team had any word about Faye's condition. Last they heard, she was in critical condition with the list as follows:
-5 broken ribs
-Broken left wrist
-Fractured right wrist
-Broken left ankle
-Internal and external bleeding
-Broken nose
-Ruptured blood vessel in head
-Failing heart
It broke Brooklyn's heart to see her that way, and he blamed himself for it since she had taken it for him. Even Garland was concerned, after all, their teammate's life was hanging in the balance by a very thin thread. Finally, a doctor came out looking very solemn. Brooklyn stood up.
"How is she?" He asked cautiously.
The doctor sighed.
"Not good. She's just fallen into a coma, and her chances of survival are slimmed down to almost nothing."
"How slim?"
"Only a 5 percentchance. I'm sorry." He turned and walked away.
Brooklyn sank back into his chair, burying his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. The BEGA Team was shocked. Brooklyn never cried, EVER.
"This is all my fault…." He choked. "I never should have left her alone….."
A nurse walked up to the group.
"You may see her now."
The sight was a heartbreaking one. Faye had tubes seemingly coming out of everywhere, including one protruding from her throat that was draining blood from her lungs. Her heartbeat that was being recorded on the vital signs monitor was very weak, barely sustaining her. Faye was covered in bandages, all of them in need of changing from the blood soaking right through. The others left, giving Brooklyn some time alone with Faye. He sat down next to her on the chair by her bed and gently took her hand, letting his tears fall freely.
"Faye, I'm so sorry…. I never should have let you take that punishment for me…." He murmured softly, tears rolling down his cheeks.
It was about then that he remembered Apocalyptica in his pocket. Pulling it out, he sighed and pressed it into her hand. Her fingers subconsciously closed around her blade, and for some reason, the bit chip glowed a soft red color as a dragon the size of a falcon emerged and sat beside its mistress.
"Apocalyptica?"
There is still a chance that you may save her. The dragon crooned.
"What do you mean? What can I do?" He asked, willing to do anything.
There is only one person with the bit beast power to bring her back, but it's not likely she will comply.
"Who can I turn to?"
Find Branzer Renavatio, and Faye will live. The dragon faded away, and the bit chip ceased glowing.
I will find you, Branzer Renavatio, I swear.