Insert witty opening statement here…-Yawns-
Neo: -Sweatdrop- Aw, come on…now I have to do everything myself! –Sigh- KOS-MOS rox does not own Xenosaga, or anything else mentioned in this fanfic. All she owns is the hope that Shion and Allen will get together in Namco's version of Xenosaga 3, which doesn't look probable especially since Red Cloak partially takes off his mask in the trailer and-
Way to make me feel good! Geez!
Neo: Sawree buddy…
Bold Face Italics – Wilhelm speaking mentally
Regular Italics – chaos speaking mentally
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Xenosaga Episode II: Die Kraft der Liebe
Chapter 9: Origins
"All right! Let's finish this!" Jr. said as the Elsa made its landing. Canaan stepped towards the view window.
"This area used to be the capital of Old Miltia. The area up ahead was ground zero fourteen years ago," Canaan said. "It was filled with U-TIC Organization facilities. The area that handled the most important research was..."
"Labyrinthos. The original Zohar should still be sleeping deep inside it," Jin finished Canaan's statement.
"Rubedo, your objective is to secure the original Zohar, correct?" Canaan asked.
"Yeah," Jr. said. He noticed Shion staring out the view window, a look of puzzlement on her face. "Shion? Shion, are you all right?" he asked, waving his hands in front of her face. She shook her head as her eyes snapped alert again.
"What? Ah, yes," she said. After a second, she whispered to herself, "Cecily and Cathe may be there as well…"
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"No, it's nothing."
"Now we can finally analyze the data in my head…" Canaan smiled.
"Yes. We should hurry," Jin said.
"I agree. The Immigrant Fleet should already be here, but it's really quiet. That has me worried," Canaan said darkly, following the others off of the bridge and into the E.S. hangar.
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"Okay, here's how this is gonna work!" Jr. commanded, pointing at the three E.S.s. "Same places as last time, except that Canaan has to go into the Asher's storage compartment with chaos!"
chaos and Canaan looked at each other uncomfortably. "Do we really have to…?" Canaan started to ask before he was suddenly shoved inside the small space. chaos shot Jr. a death glare before being thrown in headfirst, landing on top of Canaan.
Jr. shot the reader a smirk and pointed at them, saying, "That's for all you yaoi fangirls out there! Woo-hoo!"
"Um…yeah," chaos said before quickly scooting away from Canaan, bumping his head on top of the cramped space.
The E.S.s were launched from the hangar and into the submerged city. Soaked rubble littered the ground that the mechs stepped heavily on. "This is the capital, right?" Momo asked, looking around outside.
"Indeed it is," Jin answered. "Shion, we used to live right around here."
"J-Jin…" Shion said, trying to suppress her tears. But she couldn't hold them back forever…silent tears rolled down her childlike cheeks as she thought of her homeland, and what happened fourteen years ago…
"Come on, guys. Labyrinthos is right over there," Jr. said, pointing out the tower standing a bit beyond their location. "Shion? Are your speakers still working?"
"Yes, Jin," she said acidly, quickly wiping her eyes.
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The E.S.s pressed on through the submerged city. Jr. had been ranting because the E.S. Dinah and the E.S. Zebulun could float while the Asher could only move heavily on its metal legs. While ranting, he managed to crush every single enemy along the way, so that seemed to be a plus side to things. "Yo, guys, we're almost there!" he said, pointing at the tower looming in front of them.
"Jr….are you sure this is a good idea to just go charging in there?" Shion asked him.
"Yeah. We'll give 'em a show!" he yelled excitedly.
"That little manchild is hopeless," Allen muttered.
"What? I heard that, man!" Jr. growled.
"Guys, guys!" Ziggy said firmly. "Now's not the best time to fight."
"Yeah, yeah…" Jr. scowled at Allen. "I'll get you someday…and your dominatrix too!" Shion looked at Jr. as if he had a procession of gnomes filtering out of his ears.
"What? Do I got gnomes comin' out of my ears again?" he asked, sticking a finger in his ear.
"What the…?" Allen started to say.
"Yeah, gnomes," Jr. explained. "They were coming out of my ears. Maybe I dreamt it…" Allen shook his head as the mechs furthered on the puddle-ridden street.
"Why is this damn thing not working!" an unfamiliar voice rang from just to their left. Jr. turned to look, confused. He saw a mechanical cannon as more voices were heard from within.
"External speakers?" he wondered aloud.
"We have mobilized all units, but we're all exhausted from training earlier. May I-" another voice said. The sound of skin hitting skin and a cry of pain cut him off.
"Line up, maggots! Did you pansies already forget your training! Do you know how bad you made me look! Listen to me! What you think means nothing! What you want means nothing! You do as I say! I am the boot in your buttocks!" the first voice yelled angrily.
"Was that…?" Allen asked Shion. "Wasn't he on the Woglinde?"
Shion gasped. "He was! That was…that was Commander Vanderkam! He was in Hangar 1, with the Zohar emulator!"
"Hee hee…he said 'buttocks'…" one of the soldiers snickered.
"You! What is your problem? Were you born that dumb or did your drunk mama slap you on the wrong end when you squirted out? Why are you laughing? Do I amuse you?" Vanderkam ranted. "I'm tired of all you pantywaist nitwits! You make me physically ill! Drop and give me a million! I will break you!"
"Hey! That was a good one!" Jr. grinned. "I'm beginning to like this guy!"
"Enemy unit discovered on deck! Standby!" one of the soldiers stammered just in time.
"What did you say!"
"Dammit! They found us!" Jr. yelled.
"All hands, prepare for battle! Target the Vector A.M.W.S.!" Vanderkam commanded.
As the men prepared the cannon, floating mechanical shooters flew up around it. "This is not a drill! Show me everything you've got!"
Just as the cannon was about to fire, obliterating them all, Jr. screamed, "Wait!"
"What do you want?" Vanderkam asked, stopping the attack temporarily.
"Hey…let's settle this the right way," Jr. said, grinning. "We're both pretty witty guys. Let's say that the guy who out-insults the other gets his way. Whaddya say, pal?" he offered.
"…Alright, smartass. We'll go along with it," Vanderkam agreed after a moment's hesitation.
"But we gotta warn ya…nobody has ever outdone him! He's the king!" the first soldier chirped.
"He may be the king…" Jr. said, "But I'm the Little Master!"
"Alright, maggot, present yourself!" Vanderkam said, stepping out from behind the cannon. He was a man of heavy stature, with a large, purple "X" tattooed on his face. Jr. hopped down from the E.S. Asher, whirling around to face him. Jr. busted into hysterical laughter as he say the tattoo on his face.
"Man…" Jr. scoffed, laughing. "God, what is that? You wear so much makeup, that you leave a clown imprint on your pillowcase!" he said, pointing at Vanderkam. "If Moses had seen your face, there would have been another commandment!"
"And look at you!" Vanderkam yelled, guffawing. "You're so short, the only thing you can measure up to is the free kiddie cone cutout at the ice cream shop!"
"Ah!" Jr. snarled. "Big guy, are ya? If fat were gasoline, you'd have enough to circle the planet THREE TIMES! I hear that you were so ugly as a child, your mother nursed you through a straw!"
"I heard they had to burn down the school to get you out of the last grade you were in!" Vanderkam yelled. "Which was it, 3rd?"
"Oh! And you…you're so dumb, the only thing you read is the back of a cereal box!" Jr. screamed.
"At least I don't fit inside of one!" Vanderkam retorted, smirking.
"What is this?" Ziggy asked Jin.
"I don't want to know…"
"Oh yeah, lizard lips?" Jr. screamed, furious. His face turned the color of his hair as he spat, "You have less backbone than a chocolate éclair! Hit me with a real one!"
"You're so ugly, that when you suck a lemon---the lemon makes a face!" the older man yelled.
"Your origins are so low, you'd have to limbo under your family tree!"
"You're the culmination of years of major genetic mishaps!"
"Oh, nobody insults the U.R.T.V. background!" Jr. hissed. "You're so dumb, you think manual labor is the president of Mexico! Hit this man with a good one, now!"
"Your mother is twice the man you are!"
"Why don't you act like an adult and actually hurt me?" Jr. smirked.
"Why don't you look like one?" Vanderkam sneered.
"Men like you are the reason why darkness was created!" Jr. said. Unlike Vanderkam, he still had a lot of insults left.
"You…you're ugly! Like Idaho!" Vanderkam stammered.
"Hey, don't be dissin' the potatoes, fool!" Jr. said. "Wait…what is Idaho? Anyways, you're dying out! I got more insults than there's cops at a Dunkin' Donuts shop!"
"You're so dumb that…" the U-TIC officer began to sweat. "That you're dumb!"
"I thought so," Jr. scoffed, turning his back on the man. "I'll be going now. See you in hell, bucko." The Little Master had preserved his sacred name. He hopped onto the E.S. Asher and swung into the cockpit triumphantly. "Come on, Jin…let's roll!" he said as the E.S.s continued on the path to Labyrinthos.
"Oh, and by the way," Momo said to Vanderkam through the speakers of the E.S. Zebulun, "your mother."
"It's 'yo momma', Momo, 'yo momma'…" Jr. instructed.
Vanderkam watched as the three mechs gained more distance, a sense of odd wonder about him.
"Sir? What happened back there?" the first soldier asked.
"I don't know…" the officer muttered. "But I kinda like that kid."
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"Look. It's the Labyrinthos tower," Shion said once the mechs reached the entrance to Labyrinthos.
"Yeah, nice one, Captain Obvious…" Jr. muttered.
"Jr., the insult battle is over!" Shion snapped.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. You all know that I have a spastic tongue," Jr. said.
"How many spastic body parts can one have?" Shion asked.
"…seven…" Jr. admitted sheepishly. Shion and Allen busted into hysterical laughter as Jin and Ziggy just stared at him. Momo looked at him, confusion apparent in her amber eyes.
"I don't get it!" she said.
"Uh…I'll tell you later, Momo…" Shion said, trying to stop laughing.
Meanwhile, in the Asher's cargo compartment, chaos and Canaan were playing cards with a deck that Canaan had taken out of his pocket. "Got any threes?" chaos asked.
"Go fish," the realian responded, sighing.
chaos grumbled as he reached for the small pile of cards in between the two of them. "Ha! I got a three!" he exclaimed triumphantly, laying down his pair. Canaan groaned and stretched.
"You think they'll get to Labyrinthos soon?" Canaan asked his fellow refugee.
"I hope so…I can't stand another ride in this thing…"
Now, back to our regularly scheduled program.
"Yes, this is Labyrinthos indeed," Jin said. "We're pretty close now. Better get ready."
"But it doesn't look like we'll be able to go there in our E.S.s," Momo pointed out.
"Let's look for another entrance. There should be a small gap somewhere," Allen said.
"Right on, my Shion-loving friend!" Jr. said. He whirled around the Asher's guns and shot at the blockades around the sides, searching for an entrance.
Once they finally found one, they docked their mechs and started into the tower. Jr. suddenly stopped and started back for the E.S.s.
"Jr., what's wrong?" Momo asked.
"Damn, I almost forgot about chaos again…" he replied. "Ooh! Hang on!" Jr. said, pulling a tiny camera out of his pocket. He opened the compartment door and whipped the camera in front of his face, snapping about ten pictures. All he saw was chaos and Canaan looking at him, blinking.
"I thought that I would be able to blackmail you guys…" Jr. grumbled. He put away his camera and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"You were planning that from the beginning, weren't you?" chaos asked, closing his eyes and sighing in exasperation.
"You know it, buddy!" Jr. said, winking.
"Anyways, let's make this quick," Canaan said quietly, swinging out of the cramped space and jogging to catch up with the rest of the group. chaos glared at Jr., who only flashed him an innocent smile.
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"What?"
"It's…it's a water puzzle!"
"I think we have to get past it to get to the core…"
chaos glanced at Allen and nodded. Allen grabbed Jr.'s hands while chaos grabbed his feet, and they dangled him over the edge. Jr. screamed like a girl as he felt them almost drop him into the water.
"Pull me up! Pull me up!" he screeched, flailing. His attackers heaved him upwards and laid him down on the floor, where he curled into a fetal position and began whimpering.
"You guys are so mean!" Shion said, stifling hysterical laughter. Jin looked as if he was about to explode with hilarity.
"Alright. Let's just solve this thing," Jr. said quietly, clambering to his feet. "Shion and Allen, you two each have half of a scientist's brain, I'm sure you can figure it out."
"Now, excuse me while I beat chaos to a bloody pulp!" Jr. yelled suddenly, tackling chaos.
Once the puzzle was finally solved, the group continued into the next room. chaos hobbled in behind Jr., his face contorted in pain. A chilling blast of cold air hit them as the door slammed shut, blasting them back into the wall. The lights came on, and a figure swooped down from somewhere above them. When they got a good look, they saw that he was a male who looked to be about chaos' age. His hair was purple and his eyes yellow, and an odd symbol was branded on his forehead. He sneered at them, his beady eyes bright with excitement.
"Who the hell are you?" Jr. demanded.
"My name is Gamma. I was created by U-TIC," the teen said in a voice that sent a chill down the group's spines.
"Shion. The symbol on his forehead is the character for the ancient Greek letter, Gamma," KOS-MOS stated.
"Oh yeah? Well, I'm from the sorority of Sigma Whoop-Your-Ass!" Jr. yelled, pulling out his guns.
"Don't you mean fraternity?" Shion offered.
"Nope!"
"I was created to destroy you!" Gamma snarled, suddenly sending a wave of yellow energy at them. chaos dodged nimbly and ran to KOS-MOS.
"Ready, KOS-MOS?" he asked her, holding out his hand.
"Affirmative," she responded, taking his hand. They lifted up into the air and spun around, chaos' hands on her hips. He drew her in close to his body and twirled around.
Apparently, he got too close.
His lips brushed against her cheek…and then pressed against hers. KOS-MOS' eyes turned blue as chaos drew in a sharp breath through his nose and grasped her by the shoulders, greedily taking in whatever he could get. His eyes snapped open and he looked at her, dumbstruck. He let go of her, and she fell gracefully. Her eyes returned to normal as chaos dropped to the floor with a thud. His blue eyes were wide with shock.
"Wh-what the?" Allen stammered, staring at chaos.
"U-TIC menace boy! Right behind you!" Jr. warned Allen abruptly, pointing over his shoulder. Allen barely had time to turn his head before Gamma jabbed his hand into Allen's back. The brown-haired man fell to all fours on the ground, coughing and gasping for air.
Shion's eyes began to glow as Allen continued to cough, bringing up a bit of blood. "Guys, let's just kill him!" Shion said, pointing at Gamma. "Let's go!"
Shion turned to face the teen, furious. "You are the poster-child for U-TIC's evil!" she snarled, running towards Gamma. She mumbled something inaudible, and her hands glowed bright green as she send a blast of aura his way.
"Ha! You think that will destroy me?" Gamma asked insanely, dodging the blasts. His beady yellow eyes glowed as he threw more ether attacks at Shion. She leaped into the air, successfully avoiding every blast.
Shion landed on the cold floor, her back facing Gamma. In one fluid motion, she stood up and whirled around to face him.
"Bastard!" she yelled as her hands began glowing once again. She charged at Gamma, punching him in the face. Jr. came up behind her, hopped, and shot over both of her shoulders. Gamma stumbled backwards, one hand clutching his jaw, the other trying to stop the bullet wound in his stomach from bleeding.
"Put me in, coach!" Jr. yelled, holding out his hand. Shion nodded and smacked his hand before running to help Allen, her eyes returning to normal.
"Are you okay?" she asked, helping him to his feet.
"I'm fine…" he sputtered, leaning on her shoulder for support. She flashed him a concerned look before watching Jr. handle Gamma.
"Jr.!" Momo cried, starting over to help him. Ziggy grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
"Momo, stay back here! He can handle it!" Ziggy said firmly.
"Eat this!" Jr. yelled, sticking out his guns. He fired off a round of shots at the teen menace, sneering. "Bye-bye!"
"Hm!" Gamma grunted as one of the bullets whizzed by his ear. He growled at Jr. and fired ether at him. The shorty arched his back to avoid the energy.
Jr. ran up to Gamma, got in his face, and screamed, "Barbara Streisand!" Gamma (as well as the rest of the group) looked at him with pure confusion in his eyes. Well, except for chaos…he was sitting on the floor, a look of shock on his face. His fingers seemed frozen to his parted lips.
"It's called…distraction!" Jr. yelled, whacking Gamma upside the head with the handle of the gun.
"You little sucker!" Gamma snarled, moving backwards.
"Hey! I'm not little!" Jr. retorted, firing at him once again. The U-TIC soldier ran for him, teeth bared.
Jr. struck a pose, his arms out to the side, feet planted firmly on the floor. "You can't touch me! I'm a tree!" he said to Gamma. Gamma arched his eyebrow and hit him with yellow aura, knocking him backwards over the heads of Shion and company. All of them (again, except for chaos) smacked their foreheads.
A dull thud accompanied a gasp of pain as Jr. hit the wall, then the floor. Lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, he squeaked, "Who would attack a tree?" He tried to stand, hut his legs wouldn't cooperate.
"Jr.!" Momo yelled, tears forming in her amber eyes. She broke out of Ziggy's hold and pulled out her bow. Gamma stood, laughing manically. Momo snuck up behind him, closed one eye, and let go of the arrow.
Two arrows came through his chest, and one through his abdomen. His eyes widened and he fell to his knees, clutching his wounds. And with one final arrow to the head, he fell to the floor face-first. Blood poured from his body, staining the silver floor.
Momo stood above his body, breathing heavily, her bow raised. "Wow…Momo…" Shion stammered, shocked.
"That was awesome!" Allen said.
"Dude! I missed it!" Jr. yelled, quickly getting to his feet and running over to them. "High five!" he said enthusiastically, holding out his hand for Momo. She blushed and slapped it lightly.
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Wilhelm sat hunched over at his desk, his shoulders shaking with hysterical laughter. "Ah, Yeshua…in love with her again, are we?" he snickered.
Don't say a word, Wilhelm… his brother's voice echoed in his head.
Yeshua! It's a shame we can't talk face-to-face again.
I've told you, Wilhelm, it's not like that!
I'm sure it isn't.
Look…I have to go now. By the way, did you feel that a few moments ago? Something wasn't right…
I agree. Yeshua, you must keep going. I will see you soon, dear brother…
chaos didn't answer. Wilhelm folded his hands in front of him, looking deep into the Compass of Order.
"I don't blame you, Yeshua, nor do I blame them…" Wilhelm muttered. "There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."
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"chaos? chaos!" Jr. shouted into chaos' ear. The previously dazed boy snapped from his mental conversation with Wilhelm and turned to face him.
"Hrm? What?" chaos asked.
"Man, you're really zoning out today…" Jr. said. "We're leaving! Let's go!" he shouted, pointing at the door where the rest of the group was proceeding out of.
"Oh. Okay." chaos quickly got to his feet and walked with the rest of them.
The next room was vacant…there was noting there, nothing except for some cobweb-like material strung over a passage in the wall.
"That's odd. This place somehow feels different than the others," Jin said, looking around at the room.
"You're right," Canaan muttered. "It almost looks like there were people still working here recently."
"Nanomachines gone out-of-control..." Ziggy said in an awed voice.
"I have heard of nanomachines making rooms and passageways on their own," Momo stated.
"No. No, it doesn't feel like that. This is more like...like some sort of consciousness is at work here…" Shion said, narrowing her eyes and arching her eyebrow.
"It's U-DO. Its presence has spread this far out," Jr. said in a small, slightly nervous voice.
"It would appear our destination is right in front of us," Jin said. Jr. nodded.
"Yeah. There's no time to lose."
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After solving yet another puzzle and riding an elevator to Labyrinthos' core, our heroes had finally reached their goal. "This must be Labyrinthos' main terminal," Canaan said.
"So it would seem. ... Canaan, the powerful protection placed on the data within you uses the wave pattern emitted by the Zohar," Jin said, patting Canaan's shoulder. "We should be able to remove it with this terminal."
"You don't have to explain the details. Just hurry up and get it out," Canaan begged. He sat down in the analyzer chair as Jin moved to the terminal, typed in the access code and opened the data file.
"Hey, just what is the data inside of Canaan, anyway?" Shion asked.
"Put simply, it contains the identity of the mastermind behind the Miltian Conflict," Jin replied.
"Hold on a second. The mastermind behind the Conflict was..." Allen began.
"Mm. The madman, Joachim Mizrahi. At least that's what everyone thinks. But just because most people believe something, doesn't necessarily mean that it's true."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"You're about to find out…" Jin pressed the enter button, and green text scrolled rapidly down the screen. Suddenly, something caught Shion's eye.
"Jin, scroll back up!" she demanded. "What was that? Something about a 'Divine Form'?"
"Divine Form…? Oh, yes…" Jin muttered, not bothering to scroll back up. "The Divine Form…where to begin?"
"Just tell us!" Jr. yelled impatiently.
"Alright, alright…" Jin smirked. "Just around the time when my little sister was born, a family wanted another child. They could not conceive a baby, so they took their problems to Joachim Mizrahi himself," he said. "Mizrahi agreed to genetically engineer them a daughter, since they wanted a girl. But, there was a small catch. Joachim wanted to be able to do genetic testing on her. The future parents regretfully agreed."
"So she's like a variant U.R.T.V.?" Jr. asked.
"No, not exactly..." Jin said. "It's hard to explain exactly what she is. Barely anybody knew about her anyways…Joachim didn't even tell his own wife. The only people who knew the truth about the Divine Form were Joachim, Sakura Mizrahi, Joachim's assistant, the girl's family, and a few U-TIC members who were very close to Mizrahi."
"But the information was leaked, by Mizrahi's daughter," Jin continued. "To a certain variant U.R.T.V."
"What? Sakura never told me about any Divine Form!" Jr. said, confused.
"That's because it wasn't you that she told. It was U.R.T.V. number 669, Nigredo."
"Gaignun? Why did she tell Gaignun? I mean, Albedo and I were always there with him! Well, except for two days…" Jr. said, memories of the recreation center, cheese, a refrigerator, and a remote control coming back to haunt him. He shuddered just at the thought of it.
"Joachim decided that the fact that Nigredo knew the information was not dangerous to the experiment. Just as a precaution, he was sworn to secrecy, and he probably still remembers today."
"Would this person know that she is the Divine Form?" Allen asked Jin.
"No, she would not. After every time she was experimented on, she had her memory of it wiped clean," Jin said. "She would have no idea that she was any different than anybody else."
"Once the Immigrant Fleet and Ormus somehow got wind of the Divine Form, they ordered for her to be killed somehow. They say that it happened two or three years ago. She was murdered," Jin said.
"That's…that's horrible! Who would do that to a fellow human being?" Shion asked.
"I don't know, Shion," Jin replied. "I am among the few people who don't think that the Divine Form is truly dead…I have reason to believe that she is still alive and redising right under our noses…"
"How do you know so much about this?" Shion asked.
"Shion, you really should read more," he answered.
"Honestly! I've been telling them that since I met them!" Jr. exclaimed.
"Yes, I figured that since you almost gave yourself a hernia with all of the books back at my store…" Jin muttered. "You go on ahead. I'll stay behind and send this data to Representative Helmer. Go and get the Zohar before the Immigrant Fleet does." Jin turned to face Canaan. "Canaan, please handle the data backup."
"Understood." Canaan nodded.
"Shion. My sensors indicate an object in the room just beyond us. It bears close resemblance to the Zohar emulators," KOS-MOS stated, pointing at the door. It was branded with the U-TIC symbol. The phrase "ISOLATION AREA" was written underneath it in bold letters.
"Right. Let's go," Ziggy said.
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The next room was pitch black and frigid. An eerie silence lingered inside of the dark corners, sending a chill down the group's spines. It was especially chilling since they knew that Jin wasn't with them, ready to kill at the slightest bit of danger…
"This is creepy…" Jr. said, finally breaking the sickening silence.
"My sensors are malfunctioning," KOS-MOS said.
"Mine too…I can't see anything!" Momo yelled, afraid. She clung to Ziggy's arm as they edged forwards bit my bit.
"Fools…such weak fools!" a deep, unfamiliar voice said from somewhere in front of them. An instant later, a bloodcurdling scream rang out.
"Shion!" the whole group yelled at the same time. The lights flashed on, and they saw Shion being held in a headlock by Margulis, his sword held to her throat…
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A/N: Mwahahahaha! DKdL's first cliffhanger! I've been waiting for a while to pull it on you!
Unfortunately, this story takes a more serious turn beginning with the next chapter, which shall be titled "When Doves Cry". Yeah, it's titled off of a Price song…shut up! LOL
Until next time, this is KOS-MOS rox, signing off!