Yoooo! Alright, here's chapter 3!
Disclaimer: I do not own Xenosaga…but that would be SOSUPERAWESOMELYCOOL if I did…Oh, and by the way…the Matrix Revolutions lyrics thing pertains to THIS chapter. I forgot to take it off of the disclaimer to chapter 2 –Sweatdrop-
Not a lot changes in this chapter either…
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Xenosaga Episode II: Die Kraft der Liebe
Chapter 3: Leaving Him Behind
When Shion opened her eyes, her and her comrades were standing on a country road. KOS-MOS had now joined them. A small, quiet looking house sat next to them. "Where are we?" asked Ziggy.
"The world inside Momo's subconscious domain. Sakura's inner world," said Jr. Suddenly, Jr. noticed a certain someone sitting on the porch swing. "Momo!" He threwthe gate openand tore into the yard, standing on the ground just below the porch.
"Jr.! Wait! She's-" Shion began to say.
"Momo, you're okay! Hey, can't you hear me? Say something!" Jr. said happily.
"It's no use, Jr. She's not going to answer," Shion said seriously.
"Why not! She's right there in front of us!" Jr. said, disregarding Shion's comment. "Come on, Momo! Say something!" he said, his voice growing higher in desperation.
"Her personality layer is off-line. Plus, her neural network's completely fragmented. She can't understand anything we say. She may not be able to even hear us right now," Shion said. "The Momo you're seeing here is nothing more than a product of her own subconscious. Even if she were able to take some sort of action, it would only be a simple reflex. Momo...Even in her current state, she's still trying so hard to help us."
"No. No. I don't believe you!" Jr. said. He could feel the tears coming. "Dammit!" he muttered to himself. He fell to his knees and bit his lower lip. He had clamped down so hard he could have sworn that he had drawn blood. He took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
"What are you doing? We don't have much time. So you want to worry Momo even more?" Ziggy said, urging Jr. to move on.
"Yeah. Right…" said Jr., his voice still insecure. "Hold on." Jr. walked up the steps and cautiously approached Momo. "Momo…" He reached out and touched her hand. It was soft in his. "Will you come with us? I'll make sure nothing happens to you…" Momo suddenly stood up. Jr. quickly stepped back, but Momo didn't advance any further. Jr. let a tiny smile show on his face as he gently pulled her hand. She walked next to him, his hand guiding her down the steps.
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The group made their way up the stairs inside the house and into a small bedroom. A little girl was sleeping in the bed in front of them. "Is that…Momo?" Shion asked in a whisper.
"No…" Ziggy said.
"It's Sakura," Jr. said. His eyes seemed to be transfixed on the closet.
"Rubedo…it's all dark," said a high-pitched voice. Everyone but Jr. looked around for the source.
"It's kinda cramped in here," another boy's voice said. This one sounded cool and smooth.
"I know! Just shut up for a second, will ya?" This boy seemed frustrated.
A small whimper was heard from the closet. "I'm scared. Turn the light on!" cried the first voice.
"Cut it out! Quit movin' around so much... Ow!" said the frustrated boy.
Bumping and movement was heard from inside the cabinet. "Quit pushing, stupid!" the calm-voiced boy said. Suddenly, the closet door opened, and Albedo, Rubedo, and Nigredo fell into a heap on the ground on top of each other.
After detangling himself from the pile of limbs, Rubedo said, "What is this place?"
"We must've messed up the connection coordinates," Albedo said, rising from his knees.
"Albedo, you stepped on my foot in there!" cried Rubedo angrily.
"I did not!" Albedo defended himself. "It must have been Nigredo!"
Shion let out a half-sigh, half-laugh before she looked at Jr. "Yep," he said, "That's us, fourteen years ago…"
Rubedo and Albedo started arguing loudly just as Nigredo noticed Sakura. "That girl is our contact target. The coordinates were correct." Sakura woke with a start.
"That girl...she's looking at us?" Albedo said, puzzled. Sakura looked at the three boys, blinking inquisitively.
"I...I'm sorry!" Rubedo said quickly, looking at the ground.
"Ah, you guys," Sakura finally spoke. Rubedo was trying to push both Nigredo and Albedo back into the wardrobe at one time, which wasn't working very well.
"Next time, we'll come in through the door!" he said, blushing.
"Wait!" Sakura cried. Rubedo abruptly quit shoving Albedo and Nigredo, and stepped away from the door. As a result, Albedo and Nigredo fell right on their behinds.
"Huh?" they said simultaneously.
"You guys... you can hear what I'm saying?" The boys nodded. Sakura caught Rubedo's eye, and there was a second's pause. "I'm...I'm so happy you came!" Sakura said, a tear of joy running down her right cheek. Rubedo, Nigredo, and Albedo slowly approached her. Suddenly, the flashback ended. The three boys turned to phantoms and tore down into the front yard.
"Follow them!" Jr. said, taking off after his past self. They all ran after Jr. The phantom three reached the yard, where they stepped into a circle of light. The others followed suit.
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The next thing they knew, they were standing in what seemed to be the dive room of the Yuriev Institute, looking in through a glass window. A younger Juli Mizrahi stood in front of them with Dr. Dmitri Yuriev.
"Dmitri. Are you sure those boys are going to be able to help with Sakura's treatment?" asked Juli.
"I don't believe the condition your daughter suffers from is a mere natural disorder. Therefore, contact with the anti-U-DO waveforms within the U.R.T.V.s will be beneficial for her," said the man.
"Hypersensitivity to the synchronicity of the U.M.N. We never had diseases like that when the universe was still small…" Juli said, her eyes downcast.
A small buzzer was then heard. "U.M.N. dive operation. Phase six complete. U.R.T.V. team commencing dive-out, starting from number 660. Now opening dive-pods," said one of the employees. The dive pods holding the three variants opened, and Rubedo leaped out of his.
"That girl... That girl gave me a message," he said, an excited look on his face. "She said, 'Please tell my mother... Please tell my mother that I love her.' What else... She said, 'I got a seashell treasure box for my birthday last year. If you tell my mother that she'll understand.'"
Juli walked toward Rubedo. "So, the wavelengths matched up…." Yuriev muttered slyly to himself.
"You were able to talk to Sakura?" asked Juli. Rubedo nodded. "So, what's your name?" she asked kindly.
"Rubedo!" he said proudly, before he noticed the Dmitri glaring at him. "Uh...I mean...U.R.T.V. unit number 666," he said quickly.
"Rubedo, please keep telling me things she says, all right?" Juli asked, kneeling down and holding Rubedo's right hand with both of her own.
"Y-yes ma'am!" Rubedo said after a moment's pause.
Through the glass window, Shion stood looking at the two of them. "Mom…" she said sadly, her head at a slight bow. The flashback ended, and the group watched the U.R.T.V. trio walk out the door.
"What is this place, anyway?" Shion asked, a bit perplexed.
"The Yuriev Institute. It's the U.R.T.V. development facility. The place where I was made," Jr. replied.
"It feels strange, like time has stopped. The people here can't see us?" she asked.
"Yeah, looks like it. This place is frozen in time at a point when Sakura was alive," Jr. said. "But why here? How do we save MOMO?"
"It seems that the phantoms of the three of you are the key," Ziggy said. "They look like they're trying to lead us somewhere. Let's follow them."
"Right. Let's go!" Jr. said determinedly.
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The group chased the apparition boys outside into the grounds of the Yuriev Institute and in front of a small house. A flashback ensued, and Jr. saw his past self, peering into the window. A small piano was right inside of it. Sakura was playing the instrument, with Juli as her instructor.
"Sakura…?" Rubedo said quietly. A gentle, beautiful melody lifted from the house as Sakura continued to play. "She…she really can't talk in this world, can she?" he asked.
"That's right. The neural pathways that recognize the outside world and allow her to express herself have been completely severed," Juli responded. "Her electric potential pulse control was determined to be instable, but neither medicine nor nanomachine-based Glilial supplements had any effect."
"It's weird that restoring her membrane electrical potential didn't do anything…" the boy said, carving a circle in the dirt with the toe of his shoe.
"Yes... But now your waveform, the particular wavelength you possess, is making up for her deficiency." Rubedo let a small gasp as he realized that it was up to him to save Sakura's life.
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Suddenly, their surroundings melted around them, and the country house from before appeared. "This is another flashback from the dive…" Jr. said, looking a bit flustered. His eyes were wide and his face was pale. "This…this can't be the day when…" He stopped himself in mid-sentence.
"The day when what? Go on," Ziggy said, but Jr. remained silent.
Rubedo and Sakura were sitting on the porch swing, gently rocking as a pleasant breeze swept across the land. "I hear my dad is researching treatment for me, too. He's making a Realian that's a lot like a human, and he's gonna make it so my senses are always linked up with it. That way, I won't have to make my mom sad anymore," the girl said, looking at the redhead beside her.
"Sakura, you sure have nice parents," he said. A bit of loneliness found its way into his voice as he said that.
"What about you? Your dad is Dr. Yuriev, right? Don't you have a mom?" Sakura asked gently.
Rubedo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we have one. Genetically speaking, anyway," he scoffed. "She had a healthy ovum with a perfect set of chromosomes. That's all we really know about her."
"How come you're not looking for her? Don't you wanna meet her?"
"What's the point? So I can say, 'Hi! You're the mother of a bunch of genetically engineered bioweapons'?" the boy said, angry and upset. Sakura placed her hand on Rubedo's shoulder in a comforting way.
"Don't say that. You're not a weapon," Sakura crooned. "You're a wonderful boy."
"Oh yeah? The only time we can leave the Institute is when there's a war going on," Rubedo said, looking down at the ground. A short pause ensued before Sakura spoke:
"Hey, Rubedo. I have a favor to ask of you." Rubedo looked up at Sakura. "My little sister is gonna be born soon. She's kind of different from a normal sister. I mean, my mom won't be giving birth to her, but..." Sakura explained. "My mother and sister... I want you to look after them for me, okay?"
Suddenly, Rubedo, filled with a new hope, sat up and looked at Sakura, the corners of his mouth starting to turn up into a wide smile. "Okay! If she's your sister, I'll look after her like she was my own!" he said strongly.
"You promise?"
"Of course! Leave it to me-" Rubedo was abruptly cut off by the feeling of Sakura's lips on his right cheek. She quickly stood up and walked towards the front door. She opened it and began to step through before she said, "Good night, Rubedo. See you tomorrow." She walked into the house, and the door closed behind her.
"B-Bye..." Rubedo said after a few seconds. His hand flew to his cheek as he touched the spot where she had kissed him. The skin tingled where they had made contact. Shion looked down and noticed that Jr. was looking at his feet, blushing. The three phantoms appeared again, and they began running back towards the Institute.
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The faction of heroes ran into the courtyard as the boys solidified in front of them. Jr. stopped just short of Gaignun's past self. "God…" he said. He leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees, panting heavily. "We were so energetic!"
Rubedo tossed a harmonica up in the air. The light hit it for a split second, and a bright flash was seen. He caught it and held it up for Nigredo and Albedo to see. "So, you practice along with her piano. If you're that interested in her, why don't you just stay there in virtual space? I'm sure she'd like that, too," Nigredo said sarcastically. Albedo glared at him.
"It's not like that!" Jr. said defensively.
"Your concentration's been slipping lately, Rubedo. It's almost time for our training in the U-DO simulator. You know that, right?" Albedo scorned, rolling his eyes at Rubedo's newfound interest in Sakura.
"Hey, I know all about it. I'm the link master. I'll fulfill the mission," Rubedo said in a cocky tone of voice.
"…I can trust you, right? As long as you're here…I don't have to be afraid of U-DO…right?" Albedo asked, tears starting to form in his big purple eyes.
"Of course! Pull yourself together! We're the variants. Your waveform's way beyond a standard U.R.T.V," Rubedo replied, nodding his head at his brother. Albedo let out a quiet sniffle before tears ran down his cheeks. Nigredo shot Rubedo a dangerous look before he patted Albedo's back softly. Rubedo cursed himself and walked over to Albedo to comfort him.
The trio went transparent once again and ran into the Institute.
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The three ran into an abandoned hallway, followed closely by our heroes. The trifecta of cute little U.R.T.V.s faced a female U.R.T.V. with a looks of awe on their faces. "Please to meet you, number 666 Rubedo. I am U.R.T.V. umber 668. You may call me Citrine," the girl said.
"668? ...I've never seen a female type before!" Rubedo exclaimed.
"Don't be so surprised. The original fertilized eggs had both X and Y stock. I am an X-type, designed to preserve the egg's mtDNA," Citrine said, talking to the boys as if they were inferior beings. "We'd be in trouble if the project hit a dead end with nothing but just you simple Y-types."
"I'd heard there was a girls' ward somewhere," Albedo mumbled.
Nigredo considered staring at Citrine, the look of awe still plastered to his face. "I thought the missing number was dead…" he said distantly.
"It's certainly true that a lot of units were disposed of. Unlike you male types, we have only nine female types remaining. It's a shame because theoretically, we are superior," she said, turning away from her brothers.
"Disposed of? Who do you think you are?" Rubedo said angrily.
Citrine turned to face him. "And just who do you think you are, Rubedo? We aren't normal children, you know. Even if we lost control of our waveform and died, we wouldn't have the luxury of complaining about it."
The three boys again turned into ghosts and ran out of the hallway. "Damn! Here we go again!" Jr. said.
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They ended up in the dive room once again. Albedo, Rubedo, and Nigredo were in their pods, as well as a few of the non-variant U.R.T.V.s. The pods of the variants were facing those of the generic types. Albedo glared and bared his teeth at the blondes across from him. "I can't stand them," he said crossly.
"Shhh," Nigredo scolded.
"Just look at them. They don't even have wills of their own. All of them together just form one collective consciousness," Albedo ridiculed them. "Why is everyone up to 665 like that?"
"The standard types have weak anti-waveforms. It's not their fault they were born that way," Rubedo explained.
One of the non-variants turned to look at Albedo. "Eww, yuck." Albedo cringed. The dive signal ring then blared into the room.
"This is not a drill. You will initiate a U.M.N. dive into the subconscious domain of the sleeping patient and repair her sensory impairment," Dr. Yuriev stated. "This mission will also serve as valuable anti-U-DO training for you," he added.
"Your descent target is a white beach. This beach is a subjective image created by the patient that exists below her consciousness. Within it lies whatever is obstructing her neural connection. We want you to identify and eliminate it," Juli told the little soldiers. The variants looked at each other excitedly.
"The beach?" Rubedo exclaimed happily.
"I've never been to the beach!" Albedo said with glee.
"We'll definitely have to go sometime!" Nigredo said.
"All right!" Albedo and Rubedo mouthed silently to each other, pumping their fists in the air. Suddenly, one of the blonde boys from across the row turned his head sharply and glared at Rubedo. The redhead faced him with a spooked look on his face.
"Why? Why are you the leader, number 666?" the bland U.R.T.V. said.
"You're a variant...You're a monster!" said a second one. Rubedo gasped and looked at his palm. The red numbers "666" stared back at him.
"Shut up, you losers! Don't make fun of Rubedo! Your power doesn't even come close to his!" Albedo snarled. The non-variants quickly stopped picking on Rubedo.
"That's enough, Albedo. They're not our enemies," Nigredo said in his cool, calm voice. "It's all right, Rubedo. We both believe in you," he reassured his older brother.
"Dive commencing," an animated voice said. The boys closed their eyes, and both them and the small group of friends were pulled into the Subconscious Domain…
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They ended up on a country lane, next to a gas station. The phantom three were standing close by, discussing the mission. "Our target is the beach. We should reach it if we proceed north through the forest. Let's go!" the leader said. His two younger brothers followed his trail.
"Okay…I guess our target is the beach also! And…uhh…follow them, I guess!" Jr. said before taking off.
The trio led them into a wooded path. It was infested with floating monsters and things that looked like lobsters on steroids, wielding axes. "Uhh…what are these things?" Jr. asked, looking up at the monsters.
"My sensors indicate that these creatures are indeed Gnosis," KOS-MOS stated. "The floating ones are called Expressions. The larger ones are called Necessities."
"Who names these things anyway?" Jr. asked. "Ah, who cares? Let's just kill them!" he whooped happily before shooting a Necessity with his beloved BLOOD9 pistols.
"I loathe your beauty…" A rough voice came from one of the floating menaces.
"I loathe your strength…" another said.
"I loathe your charm…" A third one spoke.
"What the hell is this?" Jr. scoffed. "This is just weird! 'I loathe your beauty'? Probably about Momo. 'I loathe your strength'? KOS-MOS or Ziggy. 'I loathe your charm'? Why, me, of course!" The redhead grinned, seeing another opportunity. "Hey Shion, maybe for you, they'll say, 'I loathe your intimate life'!" Jr. fell on the ground, laughing hysterically.
"Whatever," Shion said.She shot another Expression with an Electro Shot from his newly upgraded M.W.S. A necessity came at her, but the Momo shot it with her bow. It quickly retreated to the woods around them. Ziggy kicked one of the menaces while chaos destroyed an Expression with a blast of aura.
"Overestimated enemy threat," KOS-MOS said, slicing through the remaining gnosis with her R-BLADE. "Shion, my data needs updating."
"Yeah, I'll take care of that later…as soon as Jr. stops running away without telling us!" Shion called after Jr., who was halfway down the winding path beyond the wooded area.
"What?" he said. "I know you wanna get back to your love machine, and I want to see what other parts of my past are going to come up!"
"You know, Jr., that's starting to get really annoying," chaos said.
"I agree," said Ziggy.
"Oh, come on! You can take a joke, can't you, Shion?"
"Uh huh." In reality, Shion felt like smacking Jr. in the head with her M.W.S.
They made their way down the path, and they came to a river. "Ah, crap. Now how will we get across?" Jr. said, frustrated. "I am NOT swimming."
"I have an idea," chaos said with a smug look on his face. "Shion, shoot that tree over there." Shion shrugged and shot the tree, which fell into the water.
"Ah, now you've killed a tree." Jr. rolled his eyes.
"Watch…" chaos said. The tree floated downstream and stopped when it hit a rock, which made a perfect bridge.
"Wow. Wow. That's handy," Jr. said, pointing at the tree. "Now we're one step closer to saving Momo!" Jr. said enthusiastically. He began crossing the bridge, followed by Shion and the others. "And Shion, you're one step closer to giving Allen some nookie!" he added after a second. Shion had the strongest urge to knock him into the water.
Over another river and across a chasm in the ground our heroes went. They ran until they caught up with the phantom three. The boys came to life in front of them as another flashback began.
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A purple orb floated above the heads of the designer children. The boys stared at it, waiting for something to happen. "So this is...the fear that Sakura holds," Rubedo mumbled. Suddenly, a wave exploded from the orb. It flew towards Rubedo.
"Look out! Behind you!" Nigredo leaped behind Rubedo just before the wave hit him. Nigredo's body absorbed the wave like a sponge, yet nothing happened to him. More waves flew out of the orb, this time headed towards Albedo.
"What is this thing?" he said, nimbly dodging one of the blasts. "Cut it out!" He punted another one away. (A/N: He would make a good football player!)
"Let's spread out a psych-link and take care of this." Rubedo nodded to his brothers.
"Rubedo, look!" Nigredo shouted, pointing at the orb. The purple reflected in his green eyes, which were wide with fear. Waves were circling around the orb at an alarming speed.
"The waves-" said one of the non-variants. His voice sounded like he was in a trance. His eyes were transfixed on the ball of light above them. "The waves are coming!" he cried.
"Hey! What are you talking about?" Rubedo demanded. A blast wave went into the first U.R.T.V. He let out a bloodcurdling scream as he slowly changed into a monster. The same thing happened to three of the other non-variants.
"No! Not me too! Get away from me!" the fifth and final blonde screamed. He tried to run away, but he tripped. After the wave hit him, he too changed into a monster.
"They've been infected! But we're not even inside the U-DO simulator!" Albedo said, horror-stricken. Four of the infected boys came charging towards the variants. Rubedo cried out with fear.
"No!" Jr. yelled. He dove in front of his past self and shot the infected U.R.T.V right in the face. The menace shot back and let out a loud cry of pain. "They sound like squirrels…" Jr. said, a bit amused. "Well, that doesn't matter right now. Guys, help me out here!"
Ziggy and KOS-MOS attacked one of the U.R.T.V.s. The monster dodged all of Ziggy's attacks, but ran right into KOS-MOS. Her minigun was out and ready. "I will proceed to eliminate the enemy threat," she said, before pulling the trigger. The U.R.T.V. squeaked and fell over into a puddle of its own blood.
chaos quickly took care of another menace. He powered up his gloves with ether power and blasted a U.R.T.V. with a ball of aura. It's a good thing that the weakness of these creatures is aura attacks…When the creature finally keeled to the ground dead, chaos said, "Poor lost soul…may you be reborn again anew!"
"Aaah! Shion, little help over here!" Jr. was engaged in battle with a fiercer, stronger U.R.T.V. He Raised his gun to shoot, but the infected one knocked it out of his hand. "Not good!" Jr. put up his hand in a vain attempt to block an attack.
"Jr.!" Shion cried before she jumped in front of him. She went to fire her M.W.S., but the U.R.T.V. pushed the weapon out of the way, causing her to miss. The U.R.T.V. raised its claws and slashed Shion across the thigh. She let out a loud cry of pain and fell to the ground. Just as the corrupt monster was about to finish her, three arrows flew towards it. All three struck it in the head, and the U.R.T.V. fell over dead. Shion looked behind it to see Momo standing tall, her bow and arrow out and ready.
"Ah, thanks, Momo…" Jr. said, standing up and dusting himself off. He picked up and twirled his pistol, then fired it into an open space to his left. "Yep, still works!" he said proudly.
"Where did the fourth one go?" Ziggy asked, looking around.
"My sensors indicate that the fourth and final infected U.R.T.V. has proceeded to the area just beyond this one," KOS-MOS dictated. "We should eliminate it before it gets any stronger.
"Right. Let's go!" Momo and Ziggy followed KOS-MOS up the path. Shion tried to stand, but the gash in her thigh burned as she moved her leg. She whimpered and fell back onto her knees.
"Are you alright?" chaos said, kneeling down beside her.
"Oh God, it hurts!" Shion cringed.
"Here..." chaos placed his hand on her thigh. (A/N: Yeah, all you Shionxchaos fans can have a heart attack now…too bad this is to only time he touches her in this story –evil grin-)
"Asato ma sad gamaya...tamaso ma jyotir gamaya...mrtyor mamrtam gamaya..." he muttered. His hand illuminated with ether, but it wasn't the same ether as before. This aura was bluish-green, the same color of his eyes, instead of the usual white. "From delusion lead me to truth...from darkness lead me to light...from death lead me to immortality." Shion closed her eyes as she felt a sudden peace run through her. She could feel the wound healing. When she opened her eyes, she saw chaos, grasping his chest, the hand that was previously on her thigh shaking.
"Are you okay?" she asked urgently.
"Yes, everything's fine," he said quickly. "It's just been a while since I've done that…" But that wasn't the case. He…he responded to me! But how? He's barely a glimmer yet! chaos screamed at himself in his head.
"Well…thank you very much," Shion said, a bit confused. The wound on her thigh was completely gone. No normal ether or med-kit could do that. Med kits burned when you applied them, and regular ether at least left a small scratch…
chaos smiled and stood up. He then followed KOS-MOS and the others away from the scene. "Hehehehhe..." A young voice rang from behind Shion. She turned her head to see Jr. standing over her. "Cheating on Allen already? Tsk tsk..." Shion rolled her eyes before quickly standing up, turning around and kicking Jr...right where it hurts.
"I'll take that back..." he squeaked. Holding the area that ailed him, he limped into the next area. Shion followed him.
"Shion? Are you alright?" Shion's heart fluttered as she heard Allen's voice drift over the communicator. Just hearing him speak helped to relax her. "Your body here cringed and almost fell over. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine…just a little scratch," she replied as they stepped into a small clearing.
"Okay, be careful…you don't know what else could be out there."
"I'll be fine," she said. "I love you…" she added quickly afterwards.
"Oh! My! God! Guys! Shion just told Allen that she loved him!" Jr. said, bouncing around like a little schoolgirl. "That's so cute!"
"Are you just asking to be killed?" Shion asked Jr.
"Who, me?" Allen's confused voice said from over the communicator.
"No, Jr.," Shion sighed.
"Oh. Okay. I love you t-" Allen suddenly stopped talking for a second. "Holy shit, what is that thing?"
The last U.R.T.V. crawled from the bushes surrounding the clearing. It stood on its hind legs, and then wavered for a moment. Then, it fell onto its back and it began splitting down the middle.
"What the?" Jr. cried. A look of disgust crossed his face as a new body came out of the skin. chaos stared at the thing, wide eyed.
"That's horrible!" Shion gasped and covered her eyes.
A new body emerged from the skin of the U.R.T.V. This one was larger, and it had horns, and it had larger spikes on its arms. "What is that thing?" Ziggy asked.
"I believe that this is the second form of the infected U.R.T.V. Codename: Level 4," KOS-MOS stated. "This embodiment is stronger and the venom in its claws is more powerful. I advise that we proceed with caution."
"Hundred percent chance of danger? Great probability of death?" Jr. said cockily. He smiled slyly before saying, "Sounds like my kind of battle! Let's go, guys!"
"Wait, Jr.!" Shion cried.
"Come on, you bastard!" Jr. yelled. He picked up a rock and it at the U.R.T.V.'s head. It shrieked angrily and turned to face Jr. "Even though you are my brother, I'm taking you down! Bring it on!"
The infected U.R.T.V. crouched down on all fours and tore towards Jr.
"Yeehaw!" Jr. whooped before giving the Level 4 a bullet in the face. It yelped in pain and jumped backwards as the searing hot lead went into its cheek. The Level 4 glared at Jr., its yellow eyes blinded with rage. It went after Ziggy instead.
"If you feel in danger, stay back!" Ziggy hollered, whacking the menace in the leg with one of his mechanical ones. It screeched, becoming more violent with every passing second.
"Take this!" Shion shot at it with the M.W.S. Momo shot a few arrows, hitting both of its front legs. chaos ran up to it and looked it straight in the eye.
"Sorry…" he said. His eyes glowed bright blue and he lifted up into the air, great blue wings protruding from his back. "Heaven's Wrath!" he cried as an aura of blue went flying towards the U.R.T.V., but the menace barely dodged the attack…although its hind paw was burned away. It flew up in the air next to chaos and slashed across his chest. chaos cried out loudly and fell to the ground, unconscious.
"chaos!" KOS-MOS cried. Her eyes glowed bright blue as she ran forwards, R-BLADE out, and sliced straight through the menace. Everyone stared in disbelief at the two halves of the monster on the ground, twitching. "Someone should attend to him. The poison will set in soon."
"…Wow." Jr. was the only one who spoke at that point. Momo and Shion ran for chaos.
"Please, Momo…use your nanospray, you have to help chaos!" Shion pleaded. Momo looked blankly at Shion, then at chaos. Quickly, she set her hands on chaos's chest as the nanomachines quickly went to work. Shion sighed in relief. "Jr., give us an antidote! Now!" Shion cried. Jr. fished around in the medical bag for an antidote.
"Heads up!" Jr. hollered at her before throwing it to Shion. Shion caught it and quickly poured it in chaos's mouth. Just as Momo finished applying the nanomachines, chaos gasped and sat up, panting.
"Who did that?" he asked as soon as he saw the dismembered creature.
"KOS-MOS," Shion said. "When she saw you injured, she…" her voice trailed off as she saw KOS-MOS' eyes return to scarlet.
"Guys! Come here, quick!" Jr. cried, breaking Shion's reverie. They all ran to where Jr. was, to see a young Albedo murdering a standard U.R.T.V….
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"I told you to leave Rubedo alone! Variants aren't monsters! You guys are just weak!" Albedo said, his eyes glinting with insanity. He straddled the nearly unconscious boy, grabbed him by the collar, and beat his head against the ground. He punched him in the face insanely. The boy finally passed out, but Albedo continued beating his head against the dirt.
"Stop it!" Rubedo and Nigredo ran up behind Albedo. Nigredo restrained Albedo as Rubedo quickly pulled the non-variant from beneath him. Rubedo knelt down in front of Albedo and said, "You'll kill him!"
Rubedo glared at his brother as Nigredo pulled him to his feet. "Rubedo..." he said.
Rubedo and Nigredo walked away, and Rubedo turned around and gave Albedo that chilling stare once again.
"Don't look at me like that!" Albedo cried angrily. "Rubedo!" His voice echoed through the entire area.
"I shouldn't have treated him like that," Jr. said sadly. He hung his head as a few teardrops fell to the ground. "He's my brother…"
Suddenly, Jr. felt a soft, gentle hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned to see Momo standing behind him resting her hand on his shoulder blade. For an instant, there was a flicker of emotion in her eyes. "M-Momo?" he said. But as quickly as the reaction has started, it was over.
"Jr., look!" Ziggy said, pointing at the phantom trio, who were running back towards the diveout point.
"Right. Let's roll!"
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They followed the three boys to the park area of the Yuriev Institute. Jr.'s group watched the boys from behind.
Albedo was standing with his back towards his brothers. "What?" he said, looking over his shoulder at them, slightly annoyed.
"What were you thinking?" Rubedo cried angrily. "Number 623's badly injured!"
"Is that what this is all about?" Albedo asked, slightly relieved. "Look, all he's gotta do is just regenerate. What's the problem?"
"Re…generate?" Rubedo tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes at his brother, confused. Albedo smiled at Rubedo and raised his hand to his own head. A glowing blue orb began growing around his hand.
"Regenerate…like this!" Albedo released the energy orb from his hand. Rubedo gasped and closed his eyes. He heard blood splattering on the wall beside them. When he opened his eyes, he saw Albedo standing in front of him…but his head was…gone! Instantly, a new head grew on his shoulders. Rubedo could only stare, his hands shaking. Nigredo looked like he was about to vomit.
"See?" Albedo said. He reached around to the back of his head and cracked his neck. "Ah…that's better…" he muttered.
Rubedo clenched his jaw and made a fist with his right hand. "You idiot!" he screamed before punching Albedo in the jaw, knocking the white-haired boy over. Nigredo quickly grabbed Rubedo's arm, keeping him from punching Albedo again. "Don't you ever pull anything like that again!" he spat. "If you die, you can't come back to life!" Rubedo breathed heavily through grit teeth as his he relaxed his fist. Albedo stared at Rubedo, his purple eyes wide with hurt, touching his aching jaw.
"Y-You mean you can't regenerate?" Albedo asked his brothers.
"Of course not! That's a special ability only you possess!" Rubedo said, still angry.
"O-Only me?" Tears welled up in Albedo's eyes. One by one, they rolled down his check. "You're both gonna die…and leave me behind?" He began crying harder. "No!" Albedo wobbly stood up and ran towards Rubedo. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Rubedo's waist, pressing his face into his older brother's chest. His crying became hysterical as he said, "I don't wanna be alone! If you die, I wanna die too!" He coughed as tears ran down his throat.
"Stop it…" Rubedo wrapped his arms around his brother. He too began crying. "Don't say things like that. You're making me sad too!"
"Rubedo, don't leave me behind…" As they both continued sobbing freely, Nigredo looked at his brothers with sorrow…
Rubedo and Nigredo froze as Albedo turned into a phantom and ran from the scene.
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The group followed Albedo's shadow into the garden area. He solidified and dropped to his knees, digging in the dirt at the foot of the tree. Was he making graves…?
"What is he doing?" Shion asked.
"I don't know, but…ever since that day…ever since Albedo learned he couldn't die, he somehow started to change," Jr. said darkly.
"Really?"
"Nigredo and I…we didn't understand. There was no way we could have understood…" Jr. explained. "We couldn't know what it felt like to have a body that wouldn't die." Albedo continued to dig, his eyes transfixed on the dirt. He blinked away a few tears.
"Death is rest for the soul," Ziggy mused. "Who was it that said that? If the body did not die, and the fears borne in the mind just continued to pile up, the world would be nothing more than an eternal prison."
"KOS-MOS slightly nodded as she glanced at Ziggy. "Old man…" Jr. said.
Jr. turned around, his back facing the rest of the group. "In the beginning, Albedo and I were one," he said. Not wanting to miss another opportunity, he added quickly, "And last night, Shion and Allen were one."
"Hey!" Jr. ignored Shion and continued talking.
"And it wasn't just because we were from the same fertilized egg. He was literally attached to my back from conception until the 28th week." Jr. pointed to his upper back. "His heart was attached right around here."
"What?" Shion asked.
"Occasionally, due to incomplete cell division, twins are born sharing some portion of their internal organs." KOS-MOS blinked.
"That's right. Our special abilities, the power to halt or stimulate cell growth, are both based on the same basic principle. But after we were split apart, our powers headed off in different directions," Jr. stated. "That's why I shouldn't have just abandoned him…" he said quietly, looking at his brother. His purple eyes looked clouded with exhaustion, but he still pressed on. His hands were dry and raw.
"Jr…couldn't you try to approach him…just once?" Shion asked.
"Well, you know…we're both pretty stubborn," Jr. said, smiling slightly. Albedo changed back into his phantom form, and his brothers came into the area, also in ghost form. They followed them into the dive room for a final time…
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Albedo, Rubedo, and Nigredo, as well as a few non variants were resting in their dive pods. They were ready to dive into the Subconscious Domain. Helmer, Juli Mizrahi, and Dr. Yuriev were in the control room.
"Commencing with neural monitoring of unit number 666. Membrane electrical potential, stable," said one of the female employees. She glanced at one of the monitors quickly before saying, "Spontaneous brain wave frequency of number 667 shifting from 20 to 28Hz."
"Calm down, children. Don't get flustered," said Dr. Yuriev coolly. Rubedo, Nigredo, and Albedo all closed their eyes.
"Stabilized, 8Hz."
"That's better. Just like that," Yuriev praised.
"So these are the U.R.T.V.s..." Helmer said, a mixture of awe and resentment in his voice.
"Dmitri, will they be all right? I don't want to hurt these children, even for Sakura's sake," said Juli, slightly concerned.
"I'd heard they were young, but I didn't expect them to be this young..." Helmer muttered.
"You're pretty sentimental for a soldier, Helmer." Dr. Yuriev smirked.
"Hm. I believe a soldier's duty is to protect human life," he replied.
Juli glanced at the U.R.T.V.s. "This time, Sakura will be with you, too," she said to them.
"Dive commenced. Loading the subconscious domain of the subject."
Shion and the group were transported once more into Sakura's mind…
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Blaaagh, I hate writing fight scenes, so from now on, I'll be doing them for sub-bosses and bosses only. At least for a while, until Labyrinthos. I'm also trying to keep the chapters a bit shorter, a mazimum of 20 pages in Microsoft Word. That means that the next chapter may be really short, just some dialouge and then the Albedo fight. I won't have much fun with two characters who will not be named...that is, until the Dammerung. -Evil smirk-
Who was chaos reacting to while he was healing Shion? Uhh...why can't the writer think of any other questions? Why don't you read and review?
Until next time, this is KOS-MOS rox, signing off!