"Fall in a light sleep, it encompasses my very being
I don't carry out my promises
So long ago, I threw away my brightness
And like the light from the morning sun, it can never return."
Bana—"Half-Pain" (Witch Hunter Robin)
(Translated by Takayama Miyuki)

Recommended Music:
Scene 1: "Mizu no Akashi," Gundam Seed
Scene 2: "Allay Pain," (or "Half-Pain"), Witch Hunter Robin
Scene 3: "Mizu no Akashi"
Scenes 4 and 5: "Understanding," Evanescence
Scene 6: Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

Black Wings
Chapter Three: "Allay Pain"

It was an oddly silent morning in the Inoue household, even for an eventless Sunday. Twenty-one-year-old Mantarou, fifteen-year-old Chizuru, eighteen-year-old Momoe, and thirteen-year-old Miyako sat at the table. Chizuru skimmed through the newspaper while Mantarou ate his rice and Momoe sipped her miso soup. But while they tried to look busy, they were in actuality watching little sister Miyako, who was occupied with eating her fish.

"You can stop staring at me," she commented, feeling their eyes on her. "I'm not going to run off like Hikari did a few days ago."

"Sorry," Mantarou muttered and returned to eating. But as he lifted a clump of rice with his chopsticks, he added, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you really?" Momoe questioned. "You were really depressed after your last few break-ups…"

"I said I was fine!" Miyako snapped. "My failed relationship with Koushiro has nothing to do with what's bothering me!" She slammed her fists on the table, upsetting the dishes and spilling her oolong tea.

"Then what is it?" Chizuru asked without looking up from her paper. Miyako groaned loudly with frustration and left the table.

"I'm going to visit Iori. If you want to be useful, tell Mom and Dad that's where I went." She grabbed a backpack and Poromon before storming off.

Momoe and Mantarou stared after her in shock while their younger sister calmly folded her paper and adjusted her glasses. Of all of them, she was the only one who understood. She didn't understand Miyako, but she at least understood the reason why.

"She lives in a different world than we do now," she explained to her elder siblings. "Somehow, I think she always has."

"Then there's nothing we can do to help?" Mantarou questioned. Chizuru shook her head. "I see."

"Fine siblings we turned out to be," Momoe commented softly. "In all of thirteen years, we haven't been able to do anything that could help her."

They lowered their heads as if in mourning before resuming their eating. But none of them could stomach much more food; it was unappetizing to know just how useless they'd been for so long.

Miyako, on the other hand, was filled with a rage that quickly consumed the little breakfast she'd eaten. She stopped in on her family's store to buy a candy bar for herself and a rice ball for Poromon before walking to the hospital.

She bit off the wrapper and viciously devoured the bar of chocolate, nuts, caramel, and nougat while she held the pink puffball that was her Digimon's Baby II form. Poromon ate more slowly and with a lot more caution as he sensed his partner's anger. When they'd both finished their morning snack, he finally asked, "Why are you so mad, Miyako? Is it something about the others?"

She sighed. "No, Poromon. The other Chosen have nothing to do with it for once."

"Oh." A new theory came to mind, one he'd heard Mantarou often complain about. He wasn't sure what it meant, but it had something to do with angry human women. "Then is it that time of the month?"

Miyako was lucky that few people were around to hear that. She nearly dropped Poromon in shock before she gathered her wits and replied, "No. And I'd prefer that you learn about PMS from anyone other than my brother." She continued walking, and a block later, Poromon tried again:

"Then what is the matter?"

"I don't know." It was low, more to herself than to anyone else. "But maybe if I visit Iori and try to help him, I'll figure out what it is."

Iori was still asleep when they entered, but Upamon wasn't, and he was glad for Poromon's company. While they played quietly, Miyako watched Iori sleep. In so many ways, he was the little brother she'd never had, but in so many others, he was the elder brother as well. She'd been his first best friend and had provided as a playmate when his mother and grandfather were too busy. But even with the ten years in which she'd known him, she still didn't know entirely who he was. So many parts of him were concealed in the darkness of his pain from growing up far too soon.

He suddenly moaned, catching Miyako off-guard. In his nightmares, he began calling out for loved ones while she listened. "Dad, please, don't leave!"

Hiroki Hida. As much as Miyako hated to admit it, he was the one who had started all of this. Iori somehow couldn't live a normal childhood after his death. The rest of the names on the list held equal blame:

"Akemi, no, don't jump!"

Akemi Miyahara had committed suicide only four months earlier. He'd been the last link between Iori and sanity, and he'd killed himself in the hopes that it would chase Demon away.

"Mr. Oikawa…"

Yukio Oikawa, friend of Hiroki Hida and host-body of BelialVamdemon. Iori had held him as he died, and the trauma of it shattered his fragile psyche.

"Daisuke! Hikari! Takeru! Ichijouji-san!"

The other Chosen Children had abandoned him in their petty bickering during his moment of need. They rarely came to visit him anymore.

"Miyako!"

With a jolt, she recognized her name and the heart-wrenching sobs that accompanied. Frantically, she searched her mind for anything she could have done to offend him. What had she done that hurt so much?

She soon realized what the answer was as he cried out more names. The sobbing continued, joined by her own tears when she realized that the problem was what she hadn't done. It had been eating away at her much the same way it had been eating Iori. She had visited him, yes, but she had avoided trying to actually help him after Akemi's death out of fear of saying the wrong thing.

Well, that was the last of it, she decided. She would begin reforging that sisterly role so that he could recover. And she would begin the second he woke up. That's what he'd do for her anyway.

Dr. Ritsuko Iwahara, trusted Resistance doctor along with Genji Yamamoto, watched the fascinating sleep display of the four Chosen Children and their Resistance team's leader. Little Tomoki was held comfortingly in Izumi Orimoto's arms while Junpei Shibayama slept in a chair on the left. In chairs to Izumi's right slept the drunken Takuya and Kage, who had finished that bottle of sake and another the night before in their devastation. Those two were the first to wake and curse the light.

"Here," she informed, handing them aspirin. "It won't stop the hangover, but it will ease the headache."

Both young men walked to the water cooler and gulped down several cups of the cold, fresh liquid upon finishing their aspirin.

"Takuya, remind me never to do this again," Kage commented. "I feel like shit."

"Just as long as you never tell me stories about your sister again," he replied. "I can barely sift through all this crap in my brain, but I can tell your sister would commit mass murder as easily as—I don't know, eating a Popsicle."

Kage laughed despite the agony in his head. "That's Taiyou for you." He then turned to Dr. Iwahara and asked, "Any change with Himi yet?"

She shook her head. "He's responding to the meds, but it'll take a while before he wakes up, let alone has the strength to move. Whatever this bacterium is, it's deadly."

"Mortality rate?"

"Anywhere from 75 to 80. The figures lessen dramatically to 12 with antibiotics, especially penicillin. The classics still work the best."

"So Tomoki's brother still has a chance to live?" Takuya questioned.

"Yes," she answered, "but…"

"There's still that 12 chance," Kage finished. He peered in the window that had been allowed in the ICU, watching Yamamoto and the nurse work tirelessly to improve Yutaka's condition. He, meanwhile, lay motionlessly in bed, covered with red wheals. Every so often, he'd moan from one of his feverish nightmares, but it did some good to know that he was at least alive.

"We have to free this hospital," Takuya stated, affirming his commander's thoughts.

"I know, damn it, I know. But I'm so wasted I can't think straight." He sighed and pressed his head against the glass. "We'll try for tonight."

"Assuming you're sober?" Iwahara checked.

"Trust me, that's the last time I'm going to get drunk like that," Takuya promised.

"Same here," Kage affirmed.

"Famous last words."

Kage laughed a little, but Takuya remained somber. "You know, it's funny," he commented out of nowhere.

"What is?" Kage asked.

"A little over a year ago, we were all so close, or so it seemed," he reflected. "Around this time last year, we were bribing Himi to take us to the park for a picnic. Nobody knew what we'd done in April. Nobody had to. Everything was great, and we finally saw a peace that we'd fought, died, and bled for. And things were better in our lives. Junpei and Izumi made a lot of new friends when they used to not think they could. Tomoki and I were on better terms with our brothers. Kouichi and Kouji had a sister on the way." He smiled fondly at the memories, and Kage and Iwahara took note that he hadn't said Kouichi's name with contempt this time. "Occasionally, we met up with four kids we'd encountered in the Digital World—Katsuharu, Teppei, Chiaki, and Teruo. But for the most part, it was just us. And then a thing like this happens. Kouichi betrays us, Kouji loses the will to survive, Tomoki's about to lose his brother, and the rest of us are completely falling apart. It really makes me wonder how close we really were."

"It has nothing to do with how close or distant you were," Kage informed, a haunted look in his bloodshot eyes.

"What are you saying?" Takuya questioned, turning. "What do you know?"

Kage turned away from the window and slowly walked toward their slumbering companions. "I'd rather wait until the others wake up. Also, Osamu should be here. It's his story."

Takuya stared, puzzled, at the back of his head. What sort of connection did the spirit of that young man hold to Kouichi, other than the role of Kouji's protector? Osamu hadn't told them much about himself, other than the fact that he was from another world, and personal issues prompted him to become involved in Kouji's well being. Also, he had something called a Light Seed that gave him a physical form. That was it. He was a complete mystery. And Takuya wasn't sure if he wanted to solve that one.

"Where is your friend anyway?" Iwahara asked. "I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon."

"He's back in his own world right now," Kage replied. "He's reporting to the people who allowed him to come here. He left last night and promised to be back sometime this morning with some kind of help. I can't deny that we need it." He rubbed his forehead just above the bridge of his nose. "I got an e-mail update from the Chinese team in the Digital World. Hong Kong is free, but the team there is remaining on high alert. However, the Beijing team desperately needs help. Constant raids left them short on supplies, and men are dying left and right. Right now, they're hiding in the Forest Kingdom, slowly starving to death. They're asking for extra support as well as supplies. They think that if they can overtake the crystal castle there, we'll be able to reclaim at least half of the Digital World in two to three years." Sighing, he continued. "But we can't leave this place, especially with Himi sick. I was planning on leaving about half of team here, but we can't even do that. They need a leader. Takuya would have to come with me; we need his experience. Miyagami's too submissive to lead, and after this last stunt, I don't think I can trust Takamoto the same way I used to. Himi's the only one I can trust with this."

"Then I guess this is a bad time to hear my news," Osamu surmised, walking toward them.

"No luck?" Takuya guessed.

He shook his head. "Gennai won't even consider sending anyone until the dimensional key is fixed. And Qinglongmon wants me to be patient with the Light Seed. He says that eventually I'll have enough strength to get Kouji out of there."

"Osamu, I think it's time we told everyone," Kage decided, his voice sounding defeated and far older than his fourteen years.

"All right," Ichijouji resigned. "Wake up the others first though. And if anyone has an audio recorder, please record this for Dr. Yamamoto and Himi when they come out of quarantine."

"I'll get one," Kage volunteered, having just woken Junpei. "I have some other things to get anyway."

The sleepy Warriors watched Osamu intently as he sat in a chair across from them, more for psychological comfort than out of physical necessity. He tried to keep his expression blank, yet his eyes retained the same haunting regret the others instinctively knew would be in Kouji's if he was there. They decided there and then one thing that would prove to be true in all of the encounters of their lives:

Blue was the color of regret.

Takeru Takaishi, nearly twelve years old and already a budding writer, held his head in his hand as he tried to write words onto a sheet of paper. Like all other authors, amateur and professional alike, he'd encountered the demon known colloquially as writer's block. His Digimon partner, Patamon, sighed lazily and stretched at his resting place atop one of Takeru's schoolbooks.

"It's such a nice day outside," he commented. "Can't we go someplace instead of staying in this stuffy room?"

"And go where?" Takeru asked. "After what Demon and Oikawa put the Tokyo area through, it's not like the public's widely accepting of Digimon right now."

"It was just an idea," Patamon replied, hurt. Takeru had changed drastically in the last five months—all of the Chosen had, and for the worst it seemed. In Takeru's case, he was snappish, unsociable, and almost always angry when the subject of Hikari's obsession was brought up. He just wasn't Takeru anymore.

"How about the Digital World?" he suggested next. Takeru sighed, trying his hardest not to lose his temper with his only remaining friend.

"Patamon, I'm growing up," he answered. "I can't go around playing all the time. I'm too old for it. My days of adventuring are over."

Patamon's long ears drooped around his face sadly as he held his tongue. He didn't want to ask "Then how long before you're too grown-up for me?"

The Legendary Warriors and Dr. Iwahara watched Osamu intently as they calmly sat in her office, awaiting his tale. Kage held printouts in one hand and turned on a small tape recorder with the other. Setting it on Iwahara's desk, he nodded at Osamu and signaled him to start.

"As you know, I'm from another world, one similar to yours. It has a world of humans that's linked to a world of Digimon, and there are—or were—Chosen Children selected to protect it. The only difference is that our Chosen don't become Digimon; they have partners."

"Like Katsuharu and them with Angemon," Tomoki recalled.

"Yes," Osamu replied. "And instead of elemental Spirits, the Japanese team has Crests that reflect emotional qualities like Courage or Sincerity. There is a Crest of Light, but its powers are different from the Spirit of Light—again, because Crests are emotional rather than elemental. My younger brother, Ken, bore the Crest of Kindness. But then something happened that went terribly wrong.

"He was called to the Digital World in 2000, along with our friend from Hokkaido, Ryo Akiyama. In their final battle against a creature called Millenniumon, Ken was implanted with a Dark Seed, which eventually neutralized his Crest's power and quality."

"Wait," Takuya interrupted, "that Light Seed you have—"

"—is the brother to the Dark," he finished, nodding. "The Light Seed is a creation of the Four Holy Beasts, the Digital World's gods back home. It offers strength, speed, illusionary abilities, healing, and for me, a body. The Dark Seed is Millenniumon's brainchild. It also gives strength and speed, as well as heightening intelligence and allowing for some more supernatural ability, such as astral projection. Kouichi didn't need the Dark Seed because Cherubimon apparently gave him the potential for all of that already. I've seen him willingly use astral projection, and you've seen his accidental projection in the Digital World while his real body was dying."

"Are you saying that the Kaiser came from your world?" Izumi questioned, shocked.

"Yes." Osamu's voice was very low and pained. "It happened not long after my death. Ken was cleaning out my e-mail, letting people know what had happened if they hadn't already heard it. But someone had sent him a message. I was the only one in the family with a computer or an e-mail account, so this surprised him. The letter was from a man named Yukio Oikawa, the unsuspecting host of the Chosen's old enemy, Vamdemon. He instructed Ken to return to the Digital World, but his Dark Seed allowed him to open a Dark Gate to a dark world, known mainly as the Dark Ocean. Ken placed his digivice in the water, and it became a D-3—basically a slightly smaller design of your D-scanners." Kage produced the picture, showing a digivice much like Kouichi's, but mostly gray with black instead of black with gray. "But that wasn't the only change. Hidden deep in the waters was a dark spirit who was just waiting for someone with enough darkness and potential in his heart to come along and set him free. Ken was the only one who qualified, so the spirit entered him and activated his Dark Seed. Less than two years later, Ken re-entered the Digital World and began to take control. He dressed in a mockery of me, spiking up his hair and masking his face with glasses. He took up a name that you will find very familiar: the Digimon Kaiser."

"Oh, God," Izumi murmured as Kage handed her a photo of Ken Ichijouji as the Kaiser. His robes were the same as Kouichi's, but his face and hair looked like a distorted image of Osamu. But then as she began to recover from the shock, Kage passed her a photo of the same young man, but without all the cruelty and splendor. "Oh God!"

Takuya snatched the picture from her and stared for an instant before shoving it to Junpei and demanding, "Is this some kind of a sick joke?"

"No," Osamu answered. "My brother really does look that much like Kouichi."

"The eyes are a little dimmer, and the hair's a little neater, but other than that…" Junpei compared, trailing off. "If I didn't know Kouichi, I'd swear this was him."

"As the Kaiser, Ken committed many horrendous crimes," Osamu continued, "including the gradual enslavement of nearly the entire Digital World with devices Kouichi and Kouji call Black Rings. Kouichi's rings control muscle function and evolutions where Ken's controlled thoughts. To him, it was just a game—until the day his partner, Wormmon, died. That finally did it for Ken. He broke free of the Kaiser and has since been fighting to free our Digital World. The Kaiser was banished back to the Dark Ocean, until…"

"Until January 4, that is," Kage supplied.

"But how did he get free?" Iwahara questioned. "And why did he select Kouichi of all people?"

"The first question we're still trying to figure out," Osamu explained.

"But the second is rather obvious," Kage added, looking at Takuya.

He lowered his head. "Yeah. Kouichi's always been a dark person. Both he and Kouji kept their darker emotions inside and tried to distance themselves from people—probably to avoid the pain of losing them. It's only now that I realize that it was like Kouichi was never really a friend of ours; it was more like he was just someone who tagged along because his brother was our friend. He held no connection to the rest of us."

"Plus he did keep that huge secret from Kouji," Junpei remembered. Iwahara and Kage looked at him for an explanation. "When he found out that he wasn't really alive, he told Bokomon but not Kouji."

"Izumi, in your relationship with him, do you ever remember him confiding in you for anything?" Osamu asked. She paused to think before shaking her head slowly. "No?"

"Then was it more of a mutual crush or curiosity you both gave into?" Kage reasoned. She didn't answer. "I see." There was a long silence before anyone felt comfortable to talk again.

"So what do we do now?" Tomoki questioned. "Can we somehow contact your brother and find out if he knows any ways to stop Kouichi? Hopefully without hurting him too bad?"

"No," Osamu sighed. "We've already sent four people from our world: Hikari, Taichi, Yamato, and Sora—the latter three known to you as Yuuki, Amistad, and Ai respectively. Hikari came only a few days ago, when Kage first discovered the holes in space that allowed him to hack Gennai's files: the same type that let the Kaiser connect with Kouichi. Until that error's fixed, there will be worse problems. After all, the day all of this started, a Digimon tore away the barrier between the Real and Digital Worlds and poisoned them with darkness. That very same thing could happen if we try to bring Ken over without repairing the key."

"But something good does come out of this," Kage informed, pulling out a box from underneath his chair. "There's still some work that needs to be done on Himi's, but for now, these are for the other fighters." He held up a dull gray D-scanner he'd removed from the box.

"What good are D-scanners going to do you?" Junpei asked.

"Our scientists found a serious flaw in the Kaiser's control over his followers," he explained. "It's much like Ken's weakness in using Black Rings—once they were shattered, the victim was free. Kouichi, however, hides it inside his people with black DigiCode. Another team came up with the idea of removing it via your digivices and developed these. So far, they've only worked in battle situations, much like how we usually fight a soldier and wait however long for the control to wear off. It's possible the technique will work in non-aggressive confrontations too."

"Why is my brother's taking the longest?" Tomoki questioned.

"I'm working on evolution plug-ins for his," Kage replied. "France's Digital World team tried it and gained access to a Floramon's Adult and Perfect levels. We hope that it'll work with Gabumon's evolutions as well. But in order for it to work, two types of blood need to be placed in the digivice: the Digimon's and the human's. That ensures that no one else can use it—especially not the Kaiser. It's kind of like creating our own Chosen Children."

"But if anything happens to Himi…" Takuya began, not wanting to finish his train of thought.

"Then it's completely useless," Kage finished. "I'd have to start all over again, but something tells me that Gabumon won't accept another partner if that happens."

"No, he wouldn't," Tomoki remarked somberly. "Yutaka saved his life."

"And he saved Yutaka's," Osamu added. "They're connected by that. It's a hard emotional tie to sever. Harder ones have been broken before, but in the end, one of them doesn't give up."

"And for the hospital?" Iwahara questioned.

"That battle begins tonight," Kage answered. He glanced at his teammates, who all wore the same determined expression. "We might not have saved Kouji's family, but we will save these people. If we can handle this responsibility, we can handle anything."

"Kage!" Takamoto shouted, running into the office. He held a Petri dish and a printout of test results. "Kage, I finished analyzing that—" He stopped short and blanched when he saw Osamu, remembering the disturbing way he'd taken a full round of bacterium-laced bullets without dying. He suddenly felt very sick and forgot his purpose for being there.

"Takamoto?" Kage addressed calmly. Recalling what he was up to, Takamoto turned quickly away from Osamu.

"Oh. Yeah. Right. I, uh, analyzed that sample just like you said…"

"And?"

"And, well, it's sand."

"Sand?" Kage repeated. "Gray sand?"

"Are you positive?" Osamu checked, his voice grave.

Takamoto gulped nervously. "Yeah."

"Does it mean something to you?" Kage asked.

"Yes, in fact," he replied. "I'll be back. Fill me in on the plans when I return."

"Where are you going?" Takuya questioned.

"I'll be back!"

Osamu then passed through the door, not particularly caring who saw him. He was too busy cursing himself for not realizing it sooner. Of course that was what the base was constructed of! The Kaiser was from the Dark Ocean, so why wouldn't everything else be too?

Kouichi sat at his desk in his study, looking at a report handed to him by Reiyama. He shook his head at the distressing news and placed the red folder aside.

"Thank you. I presume your unit handled General Rosemon?"

"Yes, my lord," Reiyama affirmed. "Captain Valkyrimon is now in command of that area. She at least remains level-headed."

He sighed. "And Akagami?"

"Dead," answered a new voice, yielding to Osamu's transparent form walking through the door. The moment he solidified, human soldiers and mercenaries held guns to him while Digimon prepared to attack. He merely glared at them cynically. "Go on and try. It won't work. You can't kill someone who's dead to begin with." He then took note of the young Kaiser's robes. They were now completely black, and the short, split cape had become a longer full one also all in black. This was hanging around him from a silver chain. Osamu couldn't help but comment, "Nice clothes, by the way."

"I'm mourning, you bastard." Osamu snorted. "What is it you want?"

"A word with you, Lord Kimura," he replied with heavy sarcasm. "Preferably alone."

"First, what do you know about Dr. Nobuyuki Akagami?" Kouichi demanded.

"Only that he was testing a biological agent on his own patients." Osamu's voice was eerily calm. "One of our men killed him before succumbing to the bacterium."

"It was Resistance-made," Kouichi pointed out.

Osamu shrugged. "We had an extremist. Commander Tenshi took care of it."

"Akagami wasn't working for us."

"And you expect me to believe you? A man who kills his own family?"

"The Resistance isn't the only side plagued with extremists." Osamu met Kouichi's gaze, silently signaling that he was listening. "Rosemon, one of my generals in the Digital World, was buying the bacterium from Akagami in an attempt to wipe out the Resistance caravans in her domain—the forests through the desert. It was genocide."

"And you caught her?" Osamu questioned skeptically.

"Reiyama did. He caught her heading toward Akagami's hospital. We're sending relief to help all the victims."

"Save it. We're doing more than you can."

"And how?"

"We have the notes of the man who created it."

"And the creator?"

"Dead."

Kouichi sneered, unbelieving. "And I don't suppose you killed him?"

"Not me, of course. I'm forbidden."

"Then who?"

"Miss Izumi Orimoto." Kouichi's eyes widened slightly—whether it was from disbelief or fear, Osamu didn't know or care. He was still going to keep this up. "I remember the aftermath quite well. Commander Tenshi had to order Takuya Kanbara to burn every part of his body she dismembered with her Gilgamesh Slicer. The smell of blood permeated every wall in their base even after that, so they had to relocate."

"You're lying." His voice shook uncertainly, as if he was telling himself more than Osamu.

Osamu shrugged once more. "It may be bullshit; it may not be. What matters is that we won't give you the chance to harm those people again."

"Even if I didn't do it?"

"Even if you didn't do it."

Kouichi settled back in his seat and folded his hands in front of his face. "So what was your purpose in coming here?"

"It regards the Dark Ocean."

Understanding now what this was about, Kouichi got out of his chair and walked over to Osamu, instructing, "Follow me." Reiyama and Renamon started to follow, but he added, "Not you. Only us."

They exited the study and walked to the elevator, riding it down to Cellblock 18. Their trip was spent in embittered silence, neither wishing to speak to the other for one of many reasons. When the doors opened to an empty hallway, the young men couldn't seem to exit the car fast enough.

A thousand eyes watched them as they slowly made their way down the cellblock, walking toward the hidden door of Cell Number 24. Night after night, the wretched inhabitants of these godforsaken chambers listened to the dreadful hiss and slam of the cell door, knowing what austere cruelties were happening even better if they could see the horrendous crimes themselves or hear any accidental screams or sobs that might escape the doomed victim. And now that they knew who it was that lived such a cursed life, it was even worse. Flights of imagination became even more horrible every time the Kaiser walked past. No one in particular liked Kouji—emotions even remotely resembling love were dangerous to have if one wanted to survive in a place like this—but it was unanimously agreed among the prisoners that someone so young (his position as the Kaiser's own brother also elicited some feelings of pity) should not have to put up with such an existence. Had he the ability to hear the thoughts of the living as well as the whispers of the dead, Osamu would have felt his heart twist agonizingly at the prayers of "Please not that one!" that ran through these people minds.

It was when they reached Cells 1 and 23 when everyone knew for certain where they were going. As Kouichi walked closer to the door of Cell 24, a desperate woman grabbed at the hem of his cape, begging, "Please, don't! I don't care what he's done against you, but he's just a boy! Don't…"

"Quiet!" Kouichi growled, lashing out with his whip.

With lightning reflexes granted by the Light Seed, Osamu caught the leather cord before it could ever touch the woman. The roots tightened in his arm, restraining him before he could take the opportunity to strike Kouichi, but he simply kept his grip on the weapon and glared at his nemesis, almost daring him to try anything. It was only when Kouichi finally relaxed and turned away that Osamu dropped the whip and knelt in front of the woman.

"It's all right now," he soothed. "I'm not going to let him get hurt. Not anymore. I promise." He momentarily peered inside and saw three children from the ages of one to eight. It was no wonder the woman couldn't stand the thought of Kouji being hurt. "You have a lovely family." Not exactly the most brilliant thing to say—that notion supported by a snort from Kouichi—but it helped the woman smile a little.

"My husband died a couple of years ago. It's hard raising them alone, especially with…"

"I understand," Osamu replied. "Hopefully soon, this will all be over, and your children won't have to see any more of this." Offering a hopeful smile, he stood up and faced the door.

"If you're quite done…" Kouichi commented. Osamu's face became an unreadable mask as the young tyrant opened the cell door. The entire cellblock heard a hiss and a slam as the two boys disappeared into the darkness.

Cell 24 was a vision of Hell no artist could ever fathom to depict. Rather than undying flames of red-gold and blistering heat, it was monotone grays and unending cold and despair. An eleven-year-old boy sat in a corner near the door, dried tears on his cheeks and spirits kneeling beside him. They turned at the sight of Osamu, who merely sighed.

"I can understand that you want to stay with him, but there's little more you can do to help," he murmured. "He's beyond anyone's reach now." They nodded, but maintained their constant vigil nonetheless. Kouichi pretended to ignore the comments given to the unseen phantoms while Kouji couldn't even hear any words.

"Anyway," Kouichi interrupted, his impatience plainly visible, "I see you've finally recognized the building materials of this base."

"Quite original, I must admit," Osamu answered. "But one question: why? And I want it from the Kaiser, not Kouichi."

Momentarily, the air seemed to take a sudden shift to reflect Kimura's mind. If it was possible, the room became even colder. "Pretty ridiculous question."

Osamu did not budge at the chilling combination of both Ken's and Kouichi's voices the Kaiser seemed to have. "Answer my question, Kaiser. I hardly believe this was just homesickness."

"Just try and get the halfling out of here," the Kaiser dared. "I'll even make the walls thin enough for the both of you to pass. If you escape, he's free to leave. I have no real use for him anyway."

Osamu eyed him suspiciously, expecting a term of agreement to this challenge. Upon finding it unconditional, he walked over and helped Kouji to his feet as the walls became paper-thin.

"Come on," he urged softly, holding the young man's wrist. "We're going to try one more time." He placed his hand on the wall and closed his eyes, concentrating hard enough to make both him and Kouji transparent. He managed to get through, but Kouji's arm got caught just below his elbow. Kouji sank to his knees, gasping for air from the pain shooting through his arm until the Kaiser roughly yanked him back inside the cell. Osamu followed quickly to see Kouji clutching his limp right arm, fresh tear tracks on his face.

"What the hell?" Osamu questioned.

"I suppose that sand did a little more than usual with his current state," the Kaiser mused. "If he wasn't so hopeless, he wouldn't have felt such pain. A need to get the sand off before it burned off his flesh, yes, but no pain." Hearing those words, Osamu quickly checked Kouji's forearm to see a bright red ring where the damage had been caused.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I should have realized… If I couldn't handle the pain, there's no way you could…"

"Paralysis also surprised me," the Kaiser continued. "I expected weakness, but I guess he's so bad right now that it completely paralyzed him. It will be interesting to see if he can move it again." Osamu felt the jab of his sharp words. Carefully placing Kouji against the wall, he stood up and walked past the Kaiser.

"I can honestly say now that I prefer Kouichi," he stated evenly. "At least he's a bastard with some heart." Angrily, he stormed past him and exited, but not before hearing the worst insult the Kaiser could give him right now:

"I guess this means you won't be keeping your promise!"

Ten minutes before midnight that night, the stage was set, and the actors were ready. After a few failed performances, the cast of the Mt. Fuji Resistance Force was prepared to steal the show. Someone had seen fit to play Beethoven's Ninth over the P.A. system to keep the hospital staff awake, yet calm at the same time. The spotlight was on the director, Kage, as they waited for their cue. Everyone in the theater was a potential antagonist for the protagonists, but they were also the victims. Above anything else in the script, they had to remember that. Stage fright and thrill hit them all, but it all dissipated with two words from their director:

"It's showtime."

Emotions flared in the actors as they ran into the much-anticipated fight scene, letting the drama unfold for an audience of suddenly neutral gods.

Action.

As in "With Broken Wings," Kouichi's Kaiser robes (at least the cape) are inspired by Darth Vader's from the original Star Wars trilogy. The opening scene with Miyako and her siblings was based off of Serial Experiments Lain. Yes, Ritsuko is from Evangelion, but that's the only name that really fit Dr. Iwahara. There are a couple of references to and inspiration from The Pretender: the "Popsicle" line (from the first movie), Takamoto's nervous entrance upon seeing Osamu, and some of Osamu's behavior throughout the last scenes. The final scene, however, takes heavy inspiration from The Big O, which is rife with theatrical references (plus it serves for a good Big O reference in the next chapter). Till the next!

Chapter Four: "Plucked Wings"
Bandages and splints cannot repair these broken wings. You can be strong without having to prove it. But everyone has a hidden weakness at the same time. Recover your wings and remember to fly.