EYAHHH! This one took for an eternity to make! Its 30 pages long! It's so long that I think I kinda went a little bland on some of the details. Just hold on, I'll get number eight out soon. It won't be this long, and it will be entertaining.

I don't own Vandread. If I did, I would make a longer series to it.

Chpt.7: The past behind us

"Hey Sei." Parfait yawned, "It's getting late. You should really get to bed."

Sei didn't even look at her. He just kept typing on the computer, "Can't" He said, "I have a lot of work to do."

"Aren't you even tired?"

"I'm an insomniac, I don't sleep."

Parfait was worried about him staying up, and at his age, but she never really took care of kids so she didn't know what to do.

"Well…goodnight."

Sei waved her with his hand but still stared at the screen. The doors slid behind her leaving Sei, alone. His hands began to cramp so he took a rest from the keyboard and leaned against a wall. With a deep sigh, he pulled out of his pocket a picture. It was him with a girl his age. He could still hear her talking to him.

'Sei, I always knew that there had to be good people on Tarak, all I had to do was find you.'

"Adeline," He said in a deep sigh, "I miss you." A solemn tear ran down his face.

Once morning had come, people had scuttled toward the mess hall to have breakfast. Hibiki and Dita had already occupied their ordinary spot and were now dining.

"Do you think we could go see my room after this?" Dita asked in hope that he would.

He almost choked on the food he was chewing. "I…uh...I have stuff to do today…"

"I can sense someone's embarrassed." Georgia teased holding baby Kalulah.

"Hey! I don't need to hear this from you!" Hibiki snarled.

"If you're so protective about that subject then I must've been right."

"There you are Georgia!" Pyoro said popping out of nowhere. "I demand you give back Pyoro 2 to me immediately!"

"No way!" Georgia said, "I asked Ezra and she was alright with it." She then took a seat on the other side of the table.

"I demand you give her back immediately!"

"Ugh! Is that mutated egg bothering you again Georgia?" Hinoki asked taking a seat on the other side of Hibiki.

"No its fine." Georgia assured, "Its good to see you around again. Your fever passed?"

"Yeah. I feel so hungry now, I could just eat everything!"

Hibiki looked up from his meal, "Yeah I feel the same way wahhhh!" He looked at Hinoki and noticed a change

"What!" Hinoki barked, "Do you think I'm going to go berserk again?" she showed her gloveless hand to everyone at the table, "See? No marks. I can't go insane anymore."

"That's not it!" Hibiki hollered, "Its your hair!"

Dita suddenly noticed it herself too, "Yeah! It grew!"

"I don't know why but it grew a few inches." Hinoki then began to play with it.

Hibiki was now getting cross. "Why the Hell are you wearing a bandana in your hair!"

"My brother gave it to me. It makes me look cute, right?" she then suddenly realized what Hibiki was pointing out. He had one too.

"Gyahh!" She cried, "If you're calling me a copy cat, think again!"

Hibiki began to point fingers. "First it's the way you talk, then the way you eat, then the way you react, and now this! What are you, clone?"

"Hey! I don't talk like you!"

"I think Mr. Alien has a point." Said Dita, "You guys act alike a lot, maybe you guys are what Yuki calls twins!"

They both leaned on the table and yelled out, "WERE NOT TWINS!"

"Calm down you two." Georgia scolded, "You two are making Kalulah very upset.

"The more reason to give her back to me!" Pyoro yelled, "And her name's not Kalulah she Pyoro twooaaahgh!" Something had just leapfrogged right on him.

"Hi guys!" Mar greeted sitting happily on top of Pyoro, "Hey, Hinoki and Hibiki are accidental flaws! Just like me!"

"Were not!" They both yelled making the boy fall off of the robot.

"The correct term for what you're saying Mar, is twins." Georgia corrected.

"Whatever." The boy picked himself up and grabbed his food tray on the floor. It luckily didn't tip over.

"Why don't you sit with us?" Dita suggested.

"Nah. I just ate."

"Then what's that tray in your hands?" Pyoro asked.

"Its for Sei." He brightened as he said this. "Sei doesn't have time to pickup breakfast. He has so much work, so I just deliver it." He held the tray on his head and began to run out of the door.

"His brother never seems to move around that much does he?" Georgia said.

"He also doesn't sleep," Parfait mentioned coming over, "I'm getting worried. Only Mar seems to keep him going on."

"Lucky for that." Hibiki said, "I'd bet the kid would kill over already if his brother didn't look out for him. He's lucky to have a brother that cares so much about him."

"Come to think of it," Hinoki trailed to, "I have barely seen him with Mar. It's like he doesn't even care."

"Sei! Look at what they were giving out at today's lunch!" Mar said cheerfully putting the tray of food next to his brother.

Sei took an orange sitting next to the drink. "Thanks." He said in his sad tone, "It smells good."

Mar sat on a chair and began to twirl in the seat happily. He loved being near his dear brother. "Have you ever spun around in this thing? Its so much fun! If you do it long enough, you'll wobble when you get off. And sometimes, if you do it too long you'll puke! Hahahaha! I did that once, I luckily made it to the bathroom in time!"

"I'm working here." Sei growled, "If you want to talk to someone, try Paiway."

"Ugh! Did you try ever dealing with her? She's always in my face. She just goes on and on about stuff."

"Kind of like what your doing right now."

"Oh…ehehe….sorry." Mar swung in the chair again a few more times without a sound coming from either one of them. He began to feel uncomfortable and then asked his brother a constant question. "Brother? Did you decide to stay because of me?"

Sei stopped typing and turned to his saddened sibling. "I don't know, it wasn't your fault, I just decided not to go. It had nothing to do with you."

Mar sighed with relief. "Okay then. I think I'll go and work on my machine."

"You go do that." Sei waved him goodbye.

But when Mar left the room, he felt utter sadness that showed on his face. For he knew what deep down inside, his brother felt. Sei did blame him, for his misery.

Yuki sat on a chair in his room sketching on his sketchpad of his model, Meia. He seemed involved so much in his work, it almost seemed like he was in another world. Meanwhile Meia was watching him move his right hand swiftly back and forth across the paper. A yawn suddenly came from her mouth.

"I'm sorry, I really haven't thought about your comfort in this." Yuki apologized, "I have a couple of books, you can read them."

"No that's fine." She assured, "If it's alright I'd like to ask you a few questions."

Yuki rubbed out an unusable mark on the paper, "Takings fine by me. Fire away."

"You did say you had your own fleet before you came, what were they like?"

"Well…it started with me and my friends but it grew over time. We had quite an odd bunch of people. Our main pilot was my friend Roger White, then there was the twins Kaya and Dominicus, our doctor Sheena Lavit, the navigator was Lee Jenson, and of course there was everyone else." Yuki laughed at the thought of his old crew. "We were always getting into trouble, the characters that were there. Oh man! We were such a mess but we seemed to straighten up when we needed to."

Meia smiled, "Sounds like us."

"I guess it does. You do look really beautiful when you smile."

The pilot began to blush, "Uhh….I have another question."

"Shoot."

"Did you enjoy what you were doing?"

Yuki scratched his head, "That's a hard question to answer. Yes, I did live that what our cause was and I liked how we were protecting other's, but… no, I didn't like how we were killing off our own people and fighter's that were once our friends but now brainwashed."

She noticed the slight bend of his smile while talking of this, but she needed to ask this one. "One last one…"

"Okay."

"After we fought that scorpion monster…"

"Sammy." Yuki corrected.

"After we fought Sammy, you said that you saw your nightmare in it's eyes. You tried to tell me but you passed out. What was it?"

Yuki put down the pad and gave out a long deep sigh. "My sister."

"What?"

"I was afraid of what would happen to her when she became a berserker. I didn't know if I was going to need to kill her or not. Some one you love so dearly acting madly. I can't think of myself killing her intentionally."

It brought back thoughts of Meia's mother, "I can see how you feel."

Yuki's face light up again, as if it was a light bulb, "That's all in the past anyway. I'm all done with the picture. Would you like to see?"

Yuki pulled the drawing up on his lap revealing a beautiful picture of Meia, wearing an outfit from ancient Greece.

"What is this?" She asked with a gasp.

Yuki blushed by her astonishment, "Well it's you as Athena. The Greek goddess of wisdom. I enjoy drawing the gods of Greece a lot and by far this is my best work."

Meia was stunned by this drawing. It showed her with a white owl perched on her left arm. She wore a beautiful cape that swayed in the starlight. And she had a golden plated helmet on with an attachment which was her ordinary headpiece. He certainly captured her true essence with just a pencil.

"What was this Goddess like?" She asked.

"Well…there is a very big story about her. She was a very generous god that was loved by many. Her birth was very interesting, when her mother Métis was pregnant with her, her father Zeus feared that she would be a boy and overthrow him. So he ate his wife, but Athena was still born inside his head and became one of the greatest gods."

"She seems so elegant."

Yuki smiled, "Kinda like you."

She was shocked at this comment. She didn't know what to think. Should she be flattered or disgusted? Whatever she felt, she was turning a bright red.

"Breep Breep" The noise echoes everywhere.

"It's the alarm." Meia snapped out of her state, "I'd better get out there."

"As you wish." Yuki said watching the girl run out the doors, 'Athena…she was an identical match to Meia…who would've guessed.'

"So what's this problem?" The commander asked taking her seat at the front.

"There's an escape pod out there." Misty informed.

"Any contact from it?"

"No commander," Beldevere said with sadness, "Oh wait! There's a transmission coming from it." She immediately put it on screen but it was blank.

"There's no visual?" Magno asked.

"There communication must be broken." Esra suggested. "There's sound though."

"Some one…anyone….please help!" Sobbed a voice. It sounded so young. "There coming back! There going to get me! Help! I don't want to die!"

"You heard that people? Get that ship!" Magno ordered the pilots.

"Roger." Meia said.

"It would be fun if those so called ships came." Hibiki sighed, "I'd like to fight them."

"Your wish has been granted." Cried out the voice of Hikaru, firing a missile at the Nirvana team. "Hand over that escape unit. Do not follow my command and perish."

"I don't think so." Hibiki grabbed his sword and charged at the villain. Both thrashing their swords. "I'm not going to let you push us around."

"Hibiki!" Meia shouted, "We have no time for this! Let Bart handle this."

"What! Hell no! This is my fight and I'm winning."

"Wrong as usual idiot!" Hikaru pushed Hibiki back and hit him in the stomach with his electro sword.

"Gyahhhh!" Hibiki screamed in agony.

"Ha! You're just like a toy. I can do as I please to you and I enjoy what comes out of it. And when I'm done, I discard you." He went for another slash but was blocked by another vanguard pilot.

"Hibiki, finish him!" The vanguard pilot cried, (If it also helps his name was Jay). "I can only hold him off for so long."

"I'd love to do that….." Hibiki growled, "But I can't move my arms."

"Look what mess you brought us into!" Meia snapped, "Your now paralyzed!" She then merged with the vanguard forming vandread-meia. "Look, I'll help you defeat this guy. And after that you go back to the Nirvana. Understand!"

"This is my fight! You stay out of this!"

"With the state your in, your useless in this ship." She commanded the vandread to charge. "You can call this a favor."

Ramming right into Hikaru's ship made the poor guy hurdle a while away through space. Getting right back up, he noticed that the armor was scratched and now his pilot uniform had a rip. This was quite amusing to him.

"Heh, is that you best?" Hikaru asked charging again.

"No!" Bart cried out, "This is!" He shot out his special attack right at the poor guy.

Hikaru was getting bashed wherever he went to dodge. Finally giving up, he used an emergency turbo boost to flee the scene.

"I would have defeated you if it wasn't for your friends." Hikaru sneered taking off, "So it remains a draw. Someday, you won't have your friends to back you up. That's when we'll find the true winner of this dispute. I'll wait for it!" He then blinked out of sight. 'Hibiki is a worthy opponent.' Hikaru thought in his head, 'I'd like to fight him without his backup team. It then would show his true strength. I'll need to eliminate them.'

The escape pod was brought to the docking bay where it was to be opened. Sei was busy tapping at the keyboard trying to decode the lock.

"Parfait, you can unlock these things to." Sei said, "Why ask me?"

"I just don't like you being cooped up in that room all day." She answered with a grin.

Sei wasn't very happy about this reason but he really didn't move around much.

"Hey Meia, I can't find Hibiki?" Dita whined to her leader, "Where is he?"

"Don't worry Dita," Gosconge chuckled, "I've got him."

Hanging on Gosconge's shoulder was Hibiki Tokai. His body was still paralyzed (Except for his head and face, which some wished was so he'd shut up. Not me though. Speaking his mind makes him a good character.) And being as stubborn as he is, he demanded to see who it was that was hiding in the pod, so there he was on Gosconge's shoulder. Did I mention he was being poked by Mar with a screwdriver?

"Hey Hibiki." Mar laughed, "Are you really paralyzed."

Hibiki was very irritated by the kid's foolish ways of entertainment at the moment.

"What does it look like to you? Now stop it."

"Ribbit, ribbit. Hibiki's like a doll." Giggled Paiway who now was playing with his arms.

"I swear I'll pummel you both for this." He bellowed with rage.

It kept the children well entertained. He was just like a doll. Touch the arm and it talks, just like Hibiki.

"Would you three be quiet!" Jura growled, "There about to open the pod."

"Kssssshhhhhunk" The doors clanged as they opened. Steam enveloped the entire room making everyone cough from the horrid smell of oil fumes. Soon they died down and what was left was the figure of a scared little girl with a matted up toy bunny.

"Awww, aren't you a little cutie." Hinoki said in a sweet voice to the cute green haired girl.

"Eeeeek!" She cried in fear and began to hit Hinoki with her bunny.

"Ow! Hey ki-ow….what's yorow…problem? OW!"

"Your one of them!" The girl cried in tears, "Your one of those horrible Castile people! The ones that destroyed my family, you all are aren't you!" She tried to run back into the pod but Hinoki grabbed her.

"Calm down." She told the young child, "It's not what you think it is."

The little girl thought she under stood everything that was going on and bit Hinoki. "Monster!" She cried trying to run anywhere she could.

"Were fighting Castile, not making allies with it." Sei tried to explain to the little girl but she wasn't listening.

But when she turned to look at him she saw the fixtures of a kind and sweet boy and immediately took refuge behind him. Tears then came down her face.

"Stay away!" She cried to everyone else as tears poured down her rosy cheeks.

"Hey kid, don't be afraid of us." A male engineer said.

Sei felt the warm grasp of a girls hand in his.

"Please don't let them hurt me." She said in a frightened whisper.

This brought back old memories for Sei. Memories that had been the most enjoyable times for him. Maybe they are back.

He turned to the girl with a smile, "Don't worry. Were very good people. We're against Castile, not with them."

Her face brightened and she hugged him tightly. "I was so scared!" She sobbed.

Amber took the little girls hand, "Come with me, we need to make sure your all right."

"Umm…can he…come too?" The girl asked.

Sei turned red at this.

"I don't see why not."

The girl clenched on to Sei's hand as they walked down the hall. Sei could only think of Adeline now. And how she made him blush too.

"That girl put up quite a fuss." Gosconge said.

"Yeah." Hinoki agreed rubbing her head. "She gave me a pummeling. I don't think there was cotton stuffed in that bunny of hers. Glad she went to the medical ward. I'm pretty sure she would've gone for an extra helping."

"Speaking of that subject, Hibiki should get himself checked out too."

"I'm fine!" Hibiki growled.

"Is this fine?" Gosconge asked letting go and making him slip off her arm and onto Mar.

Dita crouched to Hibiki's level, "Poor Mr. Alien, can you get up?"

"Ugghh…This isn't my day." Hibiki moaned.

"Hey! Can someone please get him off of me!" Mar whined trying to squirm out from the body crushing his back and legs.

"I believe you can take it from here Duero." Gosconge said handing the limp Hibiki to the doctor.

"Hey! Put me down!" Hibiki yelled trying to make his arms move but to no avail.

"It's no use." Duero sighed, "Your body is completely paralyzed. If you come with me, I can at least give you something to make your body move again."

"How long will he be like that?" Hinoki asked.

"Depends."

"Will he be like that long enough for me to bring him to my room?" Dita asked in enthusiasm.

"Dita! I'll go on my own time!" Hibiki yelled.

"You have nothing else to do." Nudged Hinoki to her counterpart, "Many guy's would love to see a girl's room, and you're blowing your big chance!"

"Shut up you doppelganger!" He insulted.

Hinoki began to blaze with anger and she was emitting a dark and furious aura.

"I'm not the doppelganger…" She said in a quiet and dark tone. "YOU ARE!" giving him the right hook, he flew in the air and his head smacked into a pipe.

He let out a painful groan and then went back to insulting her. "I was like this way before YOU were! You're just copying me!"

Hibiki then got a face full of Hinoki's boot. Again and again and AGAIN!

"I…AM…SO…NOT! I'M MY OWN PERSON!"

"I think you killed him Hinoki." Yuki said pulling her back.

She gently tapped his head with the front of her boot.

"Oooow…" Hibiki moaned.

Duero put the body on his back. "We'd better get you looked at."

"You are such a barbarian, always attacking things." Yuki scolded.

Hinoki blew her hair out of her face. "Hmph…He was asking for it. Calling me a doppelganger."

"That's because you are one!" Hibiki yelled.

Hinoki threw her boot square in Hibiki's face, conking him out.

"That's what I mean." Yuki said, "You always have a bad temper."

"So does he." Hinoki pointed to the vanguard pilot. "He started this whole thing. I am not a doppelganger……..what is a doppelganger anyway?"

"Ugghh….You are a little oddity in life aren't you Hinoki?"

On the mighty ship called 'Beast', Hikaru came back from the sick bay and wandered into the food hall. He had bruises all over him.

"Your acting skills were top notch," Lucas laughed, "I heard you looked like you were going full throttle at them."

Hikaru enjoyed this compliment, "If I did do my all, we would have been there for hours. I had to give them the slip or the plan would have been a complete failure."

Lucas smiled; they were really going to pull this off.

"So did the girl tell you anything?" Magno asked Duero and Amber in the meeting.

"She says she comes from a planet called Sunpear and she said she was on a ship called the Winged Dove, a supply ship that transports goods to Dominicus" Amber said, "The planet Dominicus is enemy territory for Castile so they raided the ship. She fears she's the only one who got off in time."

"Is she injured in any way?

"She doesn't seem to have any injuries whatsoever." Duero replied. "But I'd keep an eye on her; she seems to have suffered a lot."

"Did she tell you her name?" BC asked.

"She said her name is Shiyoko." Amber informed.

"Shiyoko? That's a strange name." BC noted.

"A strange name for a strange girl." Magno said.

"Mom! Mom!" Hibiki cried out, "Mom! Don't leave me here! I don't want to be alone!"

He was in a pod of some sort, in the dark. The only things around were other pods, and steam.

"Please Mom, come back!" He bashed on the pod's glass. It was unbreakable. He was locked in from the inside.

"I want to be with you…with dad and sis too!" He began to shed tears, "Please Mom! Dad! Sis! Where are you! Let me out! Don't leave me in here alone!"

The glass made a slight crack and another and another cracked through too. The cracks finally broke the pod and sent him flying through. There was no floor though, only a pit of black which he was falling into.

"Gyahh!" He yelped as he awoke from his nightmare.

"Hibiki!" Dita cried as she embraced his body. "You scared me!"

"Heh…it's alright Dita. It was only a nightmare." He assured as he noticed he could suddenly move his arms.

"It wasn't only a dream." Meia said leaning against the wall. "You were crying in your sleep."

Hibiki touched his face to feel cold wet liquid, "Tears?"

"You also kept crying out Mom, through the whole thing."

"It's none of your business." He growled. As he got up from the medical bed.

"None of my business? You were screaming in agony in your sleep, and you say it's none of my business? There's something your hiding from us isn't there?"

Hibiki paused by this. He really didn't want to talk about this.

"Well!" Meia snapped.

"Fine!If you want to k now, my mother abandoned me! She never came back for me and nor did my dad or sister!"

Everyone was shocked by this.

"She promised when it was safe…she would let me out." Hibiki clenched his fists, "But she never did."

The doors slammed shut ashe stormed out. Hibiki felt alone now. Did his family really not care that much? He slumped more into sadness as he made his way to his room.

"Hey Seeeeiii?" Shiyoko said putting her head in front of the computer screen. "Whatcha doing?"

"Just stuff." Sei replied in a moanfull voice.

"Looks really hard." She said in amazement, "You must be really smart to read this!"

"Can't you annoy my brother?" Sei said all annoyed, "Were copies of each other."

"Yeah…..but…."

"But what?"

"But…I feel safe around you." The girl put her arms around his arm, "My family is all gone now. All I have now is that bunny, but in time…it will be too matted to even play with. But for some reason, I feel safe near you. Your really nice, and sweet. I don't want to go."

Sei blushed at this comment. He felt he could tell this girl all he felt. "I know how you feel. My family is all gone. The only piece left is my brother and he's no help."

"Why not?" She asked. And he began to tell her all he had felt during his life.

It began to become late at night on the Nirvana. BC went to retrieve Shiyoko.

"Parfait?" She asked when she stepped into the engine room. Parfait was next to the door staring at something in the corner.

"He's always been up for days." She whispered, "But now look at him. Shiyoko knows how to get that boy to go to bed."

In the corner were the two figures of Shiyoko and Sei, huddled together fast asleep. There faces seemed to be happy.

"Should we leave them there?" BC asked.

"I really don't know. We could always put a blanket over them."

As they talked of this, behind the doorway stood a small boy. A tear ran down his face. He didn't want to hear BC's and Parfait's ramblings anymore. He dashed away, his footsteps echoed through.

BC turned to see the small figure. He knew who it was immediately.

"Mar, I'm sorry." He said silently.

"Sei, you said we were going to breakfast." Shiyoko said gleefully, "We've been walking for a long time. Are you lost?"

"Well….yeah….I've never really been walking around for so-oh! Here we are!"

The doors slid open and showed people bustling around seats and eating yummy breakfast meals.

"It smells so yummy!" Shiyoko giggled.

"The food is great here! You should really try" Something smacked straight into Sei's head making him fall over. "Ow! Who threw that?"

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID NOTHING WOULD REPLACE HER!" Mar yelled from on top of a table throwing another orange at him.

"What are you talking about!" Sei yelled dodging his brother's attack.

"You hated me! You hated me because she died!" Mar had tears pouring down his face as he threw more things at his brother.

"Who!"

"Don't play dumb! You think I'm stupid but I'm not!" He jumped off the table and made a tackled Sei "Adeline! Adeline you idiot! She died and you never made me forget it!"

"Calm down Mar!"

"No! You made me live with the regret of you not going with her! You wanted to go to Mejere with her! So why didn't you? And now you found a replacement. Are you going to blame me when she dies too!"

Sei was furious by this comment and pounced on his brother swinging his arms wildly.

"That's enough!" Meia yelled pulling Sei away from Mar.

"It's true isn't it?" Mar said quietly, "You really hate me."

Sei gave up trying to break free of Meia's grasp but muttered one last thing.

"Yes."

Mar wiped his face and then ran off. He didn't know where he was going, probably to the docking bay or the park. All he wanted to do was keep away from the boy he called brother.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Sei grumbled, "I'm going back to work. Shiyoko, you can come visit me after."

As the last brother vanished the voices of people came back. They all had no clue what went on.

"What was that all about?" Hibiki whispered to his friends at the table.

"He said something about a girl." Mentioned Misty "Maybe they had a relationship problem."

"A woman with two men is so lucky." Moaned Jura, "I wonder why she dumped them."

"Mar said that the girl was dead." Barnette jumped in. "He must be jealous that Sei has that girl from Sunpear."

"Sunpear! She said she was from Sunpear!" Hinoki gasped.

"Yeah…that's where she said she came from." Misty said, "Is there something wrong?"

Hinoki stared at Shiyoko as she took a seat at another table. "No…nothing at all. It's just that Sunpear is quite a distance from here." She squinted at the girl, 'What a fool. She can act but she forgets that I'm here.'

Mar sat on a chair at reg central whining.

'I knew this was true…' he said in his head, 'but I still feel awful.'

"Ribbit rabbit," went a frog in front of Mar's face, "Why are you alone?"

"Go away Paiway. I'm in no mood."

"You're crying. Did something happen?"

"Just a dispute between me and my brother." He sniffed. "It's been going on since we got here."

"Maybe you should tell us." Misty said in the doorway. Accompanied by Hibiki, Dita, Barnette and Jura.

"Oh great…" He mumbled, "The hag's here."

"Ooooooh! I should pummel you for that!" Jura threatened.

"Go ahead. I don't care."

Misty held Jura back and began to ask, "You said your brother hates you, why?"

"I'm the reason he didn't go with Adeline."

"Who is Adeline?" Dita asked.

"A girl….who crash landed on Tarak."

"Sei, you do a lot of tough work, but what is it for." Shiyoko asked.

"It's to see if everything is running smoothly." He answered.

"Oh! I see. You kinda control all of the ship don't you?"

"Well yeah, I guess you could say that."

Shiyoko gave out a big smile, "This is perfect."

"Huh? Hey, your voice changed." He turned his head to look at her but was now looking at one of the Castile dread pilots, "Eyah! Your V.."

He never finished that sentence, he was hit with a wrench nearby knocking him cold on the floor.

The young girl pulled out a communicator from her rabbits back.

"Vile here. Everything's going smoothly."

Hikaru gave a dark smile from his vanguard.

"Perfect." He contently said, "Beginning phase two. Don't screw up kid."

"How could I?"

Mar began to tell them everything he could. "I was actually flying a kite that day with Sei. We went out into the desert because we could catch more wind. That's when we saw it. A giant object colliding with the ground a couple of miles away."

'Hey did you see that!' Sei said enthusiastically.

'See what?' Mar quivered.

'You saw it! I know you did! That big thing that fell from the sky. I think we should go see it."

Sei jumped down from the rock they stood on but saw his brother was refusing to join.

'What's the matter?' He teased, 'You afraid of the wittle ship? Come on! It's probably really cool!'

'I…it's probably just debris.' Mar stuttered, 'It's stupid.'

'Then come on. What if it's a vanguard, you could actually see one.'

Mar liked this idea, he always wanted to see a machine capable of flight.

'Okay…but just for a minute!'

Sei nodded and they both ran in the desert.

"When we got there, it was like nothing we've ever seen. It was a Mejere escape pod. But we didn't know that yet."

'Wow!' Never seen this kinda model before.' Mar began to poke the thing with a medal rod. 'Do you think it's a prototype?'

'It's just junk Mar. We went all this way for this garbage and found nothing.' Sei was really hoping to actually see a vanguard up close.

'We can still savage the parts' Mar said in hope poking a button.

The button glowed opening a door.

'Mar! Don't touch stuff! You could've accidentally pressed the self-destruct button!'

'Why would they have a self-destruct button on the outside?'

'Ooooh….my head.' Groaned a voice.

'You alright there sir?' Sei asked.

'Sir?' The voice repeated, 'This isn't Mejere. Oh my. I'm in a lot of a mess.'

'M-mejere?' Mar cried, 'you're a woman!'

The young girl poked her head out. 'Of course. Thanks for opening the door. It was pretty dark in there."

Mar yelped and hid behind his brother. Sei instead was very amazed by her.

'Wow!' He gasped, 'You're pretty!'

'Pretty!' Mar didn't understand what his brother was saying, 'How could you say that to someone who's gonna eat us!'

The girl giggled at that comment. 'I can't believe you actually believe that! I'm Adeline, I'm glad to make your acquaintances.'

"Adeline explained that her ship malfunctioned and she jumped into a pod which accidentally went to Tarak. Sei volunteered for us to help her rebuild her ship. I helped repair the parts together and Sei reprogrammed the whole thing. We learned all about each other and formed a friendship."

'Hey Mar, Sei told me you really want a vanguard of your own. Why don't you just join the military or something?' Adeline asked.

Mar moaned at the thought of the military, 'There's a couple of reasons. One, the military will take up most of my life and I'd really wouldn't like that. Two, if I don't join, I can't get one. Three, our father's both died fighting in the military so I'd rather not join.'

'That's too bad.' Adeline giggled, 'But don't frown, I can give you this.' She handed him a very old book, the cover was falling off.

'Uhh…thanks. What is it?'

'It's a book of old planes.'

'Planes?'

'They were the first things that humans created that could fly.'

'REALLY? I CAN FLY ON ONE OF THESE?' He hugged her tightly, 'THANK YOU!'

"Sei and Adeline's relationship was getting pretty close too."

'Sei, why weren't you afraid of me when we first met?' Adeline asked while cooking something over the fire.

Sei sat on top of the ship, he didn't even stare at her, 'Even if my dad was fighting women and even if he was told that they were ugly creatures, he actually saw one once and told me it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He said they were like the stars in the sky, the glow with brilliance.'

'Dad never told me that!' Mar whined.

'Mar, Draco never saw a woman, I'm talking about our other dad, Miguel.'

'Miguel never really told me anything.' Mar huffed. 'All he ever told me was…aw heck. I'd always fall asleep during his lectures.'

Adeline and Sei laughed at this.

"And then the day came, when we were finished and she had to leave."

'This was a fun time.' Adeline laughed.

'Yeah.' Sei agreed.

'Sei, I always knew that there had to be good people on Tarak, all I had to do was find you.'

Sei turned red. 'Well, were all good people at heart.'

'And that's why…I want you to come with me Sei.'

'What!'

'Sei, if you come, we'd be together for the rest of our days.'

Sei stared at his shoes and then at his brother, 'I can't.'

'Huh? Why not?'

'I have my own reasons. I'd really like to go, but there's really no point of going. I have business to take care of.'

'Sei, this is your big chance!' Mar quarreled, 'You always have said that there was something better out there for you and here it is! You're letting it get away! Go with her!'

'Mar, if he doesn't want to go he doesn't need to.' Adeline said with a smile. 'I'll be going now.'

"We waved her goodbye as her ship blasted away. But it wasn't good for us. We wanted to know if she got back alright."

'Are you sure this is a good idea?' Mar said in a worried tone. 'Were using the military's signals to hack into the Mejere information base, we could get lynched for this.'

'I thought you were with me on this.' Sei said, 'Here we go. The Mejere populatin info files. I just write the name and… presto.'

Adeline's file was posted.

'It even tells where she lives.' Mar said in enthusiasm, 'Could it tell her favorite color too?'

'No Mar. I don't think super computers spend all their time finding out if someone likes green or blue.'

The scrolled down the huge list. Ending up on the bottom revealing something they dreaded.

'She-she's dead?' Sei said in tears.

Mar looked over the notes, 'She died…of some kinda illness. That can't be.' He began to become teary eyed too, 'She was fine when we met her.'

'Some illnesses kill you slowly so you look fine and a minute later, you drop dead.' He terminated the project. 'We need to go, people may see us here and like you said we'll be lynched.'

"He never was the same. He was always depressed and never wanted any contact with other people. And he still acts the same way today." Mar dried his tears away, "He blames me."

"You didn't stop him," Misty began, "You wanted him to go. He was the one who effused the offer."

Mar looked at the ground, "I know that, but in some way…. it must be. He didn't leave because of me."

The lights began to dim until they died off.

"Mr. Alien" Dita cried, "What happened?"

"The power just went out." He said in a calm tone, "Nothing to worry about."

"The power just doesn't turn off itself." Barnette informed, "Either the peixus is acting weird, or someone shut it off manually."

"Bart, the power's out." The commander barked.

"Yeah I know." Bart moaned. When the hall went black, he accidentally fell into a broom closet. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"Parfait tells me that you can turn it on from where you control the ship. Get over here now."

"R-right away." He stumbled out of the closet and used the wall for guidance. A figure then slowly appeared before him.

"Huh? Who's there?"

"Just me." A young girl's voice said. "Shiyoko."

"Oh hey there. Can you guide me to the control center. I need to turn back on these lights."

"You can do that?" The voice said, "That would be great! I don't like the dark much."

"Hehe me neither. I can't see a thing."

A flash of light beamed on both of them. It came from a flashlight Hinoki had in her hand.

"Hands where I can see them!" She commanded.

Bart immediately put his up.

"Not you! Hers!"

"W-what do you mean?" The girl said in a worried tone.

"You came from Sunpear you said. It's pretty strange for you to come from there and be on a Trite ship, which you say is your planets ship. But you were always not the best at keeping track of things, weren't you Vile?"

The girl gave an evil grin as she transformed into a younger version with red hair.

"Hello captain," She said in a nice voice, "Its an honor to actually meet you."

"Hi there Vile,I never though ofyou to carry a hostage."

Vile dropped the body of Sei.

Hinoki's gun now pointed to Vile's head."Put him down and keep those arms where I can see them. No funny stuff, got it."

The little girl huffed and put her hands high over her head.

"Bart, take Sei and warn the other's that we have an enemy onboard."

"Right." Bart began to walk towards the boy. But something stopped him in his tracks.

"Whatcha doing big brother?" said a familiar voice to him.

"Sh-Shirley?" He turned to see the young girl who had died a year ago, now standing before him.

"Bart, don't touch that boy. I wanna play. I'm all better and I'd like to climb that dome with you know."

Bart couldn't believe what he was seeing. He stood there in utter shock.

Hinoki knew what this was, "I said no funny business!" she roared.

"This isn't funny stuff, its war." Hikaru's voicehissed behind her.

She turned to see his nasty smile.

"I know this is one of you illusions Vile. Cut it out before I blast you!"

"Does this seem fake to you?" Hikaru gave her a punch in the face, making her fall to the floor in a slumber.

He then did the same to Bart.

"Your late!" Vile huffed, "I don't like being alone! You were looking for that pilot, weren't you?"

Hikaru smiled at the girl, "Sorry, couldn't help myself." He noticed the young boy Vile was dragging with her. "What's the story with him? I don't think we can keep him as a pet."

"He knows a lot about the systems that run this place."

"That's how you got the power off, wasn't it."

"Yup." She said in pride, "Lord Andréa will be so happy, she'll probably give me a new jet for my dread."

"We can't go just yet, we need to stash these two away."

"That broom closet will probably work."

"Heh. Good idea." He said putting them in the empty room. "Best be going now."

"You're not coming with me?"

"I have business to take care of." Hikaru shrugged.

"It's that pilot isn't it? I'm suposed to help you find him, lord Andréa's orders."

"Fine, but I go my separate way. And if I find him before you, you can have what's left. You didn't take your pills, did you?"

Her nails became claws and she had grown fangs.

"No, why would I? If we need to get the whole ship crew to stay put, we need me in my berserk form."

"So true, just don't go overboard. We don't need you to go out of hand."

"Don't worry, I'm quite capable of controlling my urges." She then clasped her hands together and close her eyes, "Now, to begin the nightmare."

She began to chant strange things and a strange dark light secreted out of her and through the halls.

"Good luck." Hikaru pleasantly said, "Don't underestimate them." He then made his decent through the darkness.

"Mr. Alien. Mr. Alien." Dita called but no call came back.

Hibiki and she heard screams and went to check them out, but a strange dark cloud consumed her and now she was lost without him.

"Oh Mr. Alien where are you?" She cried out.

Something glistened under her shoe. It was a liquid, a red liquid, and it made a path to a far corner. She slowly followed it and with every inch the path widened. Her foot hit something and she fell over. It didn't feel like a pipe or a rock. It felt more like a body, which was on its back. Turning it over, it showed the face of her love, Hibiki.

"Mr. Alien!" She cried, "Wake up! Please, I don't know what to do! Wake up!"

The body did not stir though. It laid cold and motionless. She held the body close to her and let out all her pain.

'Do not cry.' Said a young voice, 'This is only an illusion.'

"Who….who said that?" Dita said trying to hold back all her tears.

'Just me.' A young blonde girl appeared next to Dita wiping one of the tears on her cheek away.

'You should not worry about Hibiki.' The girl giggled, 'He is looking for you.'

"Then….He's alive?"

The girl nodded. "Are you going to go after him?"

"Of course I am." Dita said with new hope, "I have to find him."

'You're gonna get caught in the darkness again.' The girl warned, 'You'll wind up back here or in a bigger mess.'

"I don't care. Mr. Alien's in trouble. I have to find him."

The girl smiled at her brightly. 'You show the same strength as Hibiki does. You will not be able to get through the darkness alone. I will accompany you.'

Her feet lifted from the floor as she thrusted herself into Dita, letting her body be engulfed.

"You met Mr. Alien before?" Dita gasped.

'Many times before.'

Dita felt warmth over her body, then awoke from the floor.

"Unngh….I have to find Mr. Alien."

"Oh! Dita!" Gasped Georgia. "Are you all right? You're the first one that I've seen not under the dark control."

"How come your not effected."

"I was a peixis guardian. I was trained not to be effected by peixis powers." Georgia stared at Dita, "I see a spirit is with you."

"A spirit?"

"Yes. She's right there sitting by your side. She's protecting you no doubt."

Dita could see the figure too. It was the same girl she saw before. She seemed to be pointing to the north section of the ship.

"Is she trying to ask us to follow?" Dita asked.

"Seems that way."

Both went the direction of the girl's hand. Unknowing what will await them. The noticed others unconscious on the floor. Many talking in their sleep about thing that were in their past.

'Dita, they are coming! Do not let them come!' The spirit cried.

"Who?"

Georgia looked out of a window to see the flagship 'Beast' coming towards them.

"This must've been their dirty work." Georgia gasped.

"Is there anything we can do?"

Georgia thought for a minute. She knew what she was planning may not work, but it was their only chance.

"Dita, you'll have to go without me."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to fly the ship." Georgia said in a smile and vanished through the dark halls.

"Hey Bart! Bart!" Yelled Hinoki.

"Unngh…wha? Where are we? Where's Shirley?"

"Whoever Shirley was, she really wasn't there."

"Wasn't there? Of course she was there you saw her!" Bart barked.

"You were under Vile's dark trance." Hinoki sighed trying to get into a comfortable position in the small room.

"Dark trance?"

"Vile was never on the team when I was around, but I did hear of her great tricks."

Bart was confused by all of this, "Okay. So the kid can do hypnosis or something. Lots of people can."

"Its not hypnosis. It's her effect of the green peixus. She's a peixis priest. Like Georgia, she was genetically enhanced to control a peixus."

"So it gives her some kind of superpower?"

"Yeah. The ability to make people see desires, fears, memories, and nightmares."

Bart slumped down, "And I really thought…I saw that little girl again."

"I'm sorry Bart." Hinoki said putting a hand on Bart's shoulder.

Bart was thankful for her kindness, "Thanks but I'm fine."

"Good, because about two minutes later, I was goanna ask you to shut up and help me open the door."

"That's not nice!"

"It was just a joke." She assured, "Besides, the doors stuck."

"Dita! Dita!" Hibiki called the young girls name over and over again "Dammn, I can't believe we got separated!"

"Teehee. What's the matter Hibiki? Gota problem?" Vile teased coming out of the darkness.

"You! You're that dread pilot! The copy of Meia's."

Vile giggled, "I was also that girl you brought in so humbly."

Hibiki felt rage burning inside of him.

"Awww…what's the matter Hibiki? You can't find your girlfriend?"

"IF YOU DID ANYTHING TO DITA…"

The girl just laughed happily running into the docking bay. Hibiki let his rage take over and he chased after her. But no one was there.

"Alright! I demand you come right out of here this instant! I got you!"

"Hahaha! Oh silly Hibiki. It is I who got you!" Cackled the young girl as clouds formed around Hibiki making him fall into a deep sleep.

'That was easy.' She thought as she took out her communicator and contacted her lord.

"I did what you said." The cherry girl said with glee, "What's next?"

Andréa gave a cold smile, "I want you to scan through his memories, find a man by the name of Jin. Understand?"

"As you wish." The girl said turning off the communicator.

She put one hand on Hibiki's head and began to say a chant. Hibiki seemed to be in pain from this, for you could hear screams of agony. The screams were heard by Georgia who on her way to the navigation center. It was heard by the spirit and Dita who immediately picked up pace. And it was heard by a small boy in the room, who just happened to wake up at this moment, and who just found a very hard object on the floor.

"Leave him alone!" The boy screamed, showing the long metal rod to Vile.

Vile gave a grin, "You actually are going to hit me with that thing Sei? Don't make me laugh."

Sei grasped tightly to the rod "I'm warning you!"

"Go ahead Sei, try it. But don't forget, without me your life was miserable. You hated everyone on this ship, even your brother."

"Your wrong!" Sei yelled. "I love my brother! The reason I stayed on that planet was because I knew if I left, I'd be miserable without him!"

He then looked at the ground, "I was just a fool…to resent him…when he was the only thing….KEEPING ME GOING!"

Vile was surprised by this comment. She even stopped hurting Hibiki just to stare at this boy. She suddenly couldn't control her full berserk anymore and went into a craze like Hinoki did.

"HERE GOES NOTHNG!" Sei cried as he attacked with his rod.

Shreds of a shirt flew in the air. Vile stood there at her fallen prey.

"Ow…my head." Sei didn't feel a hit to his chest.

Something pushed him out of the way. That something was still hugging him. He stood up too see the fallen body of his brother.

"Mar!" He cried, "MAAAAAAARRRR! Please….I was wrong….I may have stayed with you….but now…..I don't regret it." He held his brother close, "So wake up! We can fix that stupid machine if you'd like."

Dita finally made it into the room seeing Hibiki on the floor, a crazed pilot, and Sei holding Mar.

"Wh-what-what happened here?" Dita whispered, "What have those people done?"

'You must help Hibiki.' The spirit informed.

Vile turned to see Dita, looking like a very good morsel. She pounced with her claws only to be whacked out of the way by the dark vanguard pilot. She now lay unconscious.

"I warned her to try to keep her hold." Hikaru sighed, "But she went all mushy and was uncontrollable."

Dita was not afraid of this man. She knew it was this boy who hurt Mr. Alien. She knew he was here to hurt him again.

"Don't come any nearer to Mr. Alien." She threatened as she ran to his body.

"Come on sweetie, we don't have all day." He held his gun straight at her.

Dita still stood strong. "I won't let you hurt him!" She yelled.

Hikaru smiled a cold grin, "So be it then."

"What's the matter Hibiki?" Hikaru laughed, "Can't beat me can you?"

"I'm goanna crush you!" Hibiki bellowed showing his sword.

"Not when I have the bait." Hikaru laughed Holding Dita up high. "Oh my. What will happen if she falls? Lets find out shall we?"

"No!"

"Whops." Dita slipped from Hikaru's fingers and she fell off of the cliff they were fighting on.

"DITA! NOOOO!"

"Oh buck up Hibiki." Hikaru said in a teasing voice, "This isn't like the first time you lost someone special to you."

Memories appeared to Hibiki about Seran, the blonde girl, his father, and his mother.

"I lost everyone." Hibiki whispered to himself.

'They are not gone.' Said the kind voice of the spirit.

"I-its you!" Hibiki exclaimed, "My sister!"

'Hibiki, do not fear. This is only a dream. Dita is with you now. Wake up and save her.'

"Dita! She's alive." Hibiki stood up and looked into the cloudy sky, "Alright! I've had enough of this nightmare! Time for me to wake up!"

Hikaru's gun was fired and hit Dita in the shoulder. She knelt down on the floor and held on to her wound. Hikaru was pleased by this.

"I've never seen such bravery before" He began as he put his gun back into his holster. "Don't worry, I wasn't goanna shoot him anyway. It's not very sportsman like that way."

"Dita?" Came the raspy voice of Hibiki as he awoke. "Dita your bleeding!"

"Don't worry. It wont kill her." Hikaru assured picking up Vile and boarding his ship. "I'll meet you again, Hibiki Tokai. And then, I hope we can have a good battle."

Those last words were spoken and he was off.

"Damn Bastard!" Hibiki muttered.

"Well….at least were alright." Dita cheerfully said.

"Not everyone." Sei said from the far reach of the room. "My brother is gone! He's not coming back! All because of my stupid actions, brother I'm sorry!" Sei hugged his brother tightly and cried into Mar's shirt.

"Errm….What's going on?" Whispered the faint voice of Mar. "Ewwww! What are you doing Sei! Don't make a scene!"

"M-mar!" Sei stuttered, "I thought that blow killed you!"

"Adeline saved me." Mar said pulling out a book from under his shirt.

"The book she gave you?"

"Yeah! So she'd always be close by."

Sei began to cry again, "Oh you stupid idiot! You almost got yourself killed!"

"Hey, I wasn't the one swinging a stick around at the nutcase."

The lights began to flicker to life again.

"Hey guys!" Georgia said having a holographic communication broadcasted to the docking bay, "Got the whole ship working again!"

"Fantastic!" Dita cheered.

"Yeah." Sei and Mar said at the same time.

"Everyone will be back to their normal selves in no time." Georgia said in relief.

"Thank God that's over." Hibiki happily agreed, "But I still have a strange feeling that something still hasn't been done.

Meanwhile…..In the broom closet.

"Arrrgh! Why cant they make open buttons on the inside of these things?" Moaned Hinoki.

"Ha-ha! Just like Hibiki!" Bart laughed.

"WOULD YOU SHUT UP ABOUT THAT ALREADY! That's the fifth time you've said that and it's getting pretty old!"

"Can't help it. You guys are alike in so many ways. I bet you'll be dressing up like him soon enough."

"SHUTUP!"

Opsie. I made this one pretty long. Didn't mean for that to happen but it makes it a really good story……I hope. I did have to cut out some parts that I wanted to keep in though. I'm thinking about writing a small paragraph about a character, I make up in this story, and put it on a new chapter. Wouldn't that be fun? Ahem. Next chapter: The gang gets to really meet Lucas Heart. Heart of gold and bullets of led. He also knows the way to a woman's love.