Hello again people! Here's an eleventh chapter. Seems I'm still on the roll, though this one's just a prelude before next one, which will contain the real battle.
Now, some talk with those who wrote a review.
Imperial-samaB: Yeah, I know, chapter's end doesn't seem solid… probably because I wasn't planning to end it there. Initially, chapters 10, 11 and 12 were planned as only two chapters. But while I was writing them, I realized that both will be over 15k word, so I decided to split them in three shorter chapters instead, as reading so long chapters could be quite tiresome.
InTheYearOfTheCat: It's not decided yet, but here's a good chance that you may be disappointed…
GeassDragon: Maybe, but Houki was more convenient choice for me, exactly because Cecilia's more experienced, and her failure would look less convincing.
William Thunderion, rencama1993, BrokenLifeCycle, meirmamuka, R.J.P: People, if it'd be as you've assumed – that would be too obvious. Just read the chapter.
neosox88: Yes. I wish I could say something more concrete, but I can't, sorry.
xghosthunter115: Thanks. As of your story – I tried but it's quite confusing for me as I never even heard of 'Pandora Hearts'
DarkBladerZX: Thanks for support man.
…
Chapter XI – The Demons' Queen
…
July 10th, 3:54 PM
"There were no movements in the area…" Maya Yamada said, watching the data screens. And I.S. Academy still telling us to continue the mission?"
"Since we were not told to stop, we will continue," Chifuyu replied with dry voice.
"But… what we can do now?" Maya wondered, she was looking at Chifuyu with slight worry.
"Excuse me," Someone knocked to room's door.
"Who is it?" Chifuyu asked, not even turning back.
"It's… Dunois," Girl on the other side of the door replied timorously.
"I've ordered all of you to be on stand-by," Chifuyu said sternly, "I cannot permit your entrance." The manner she said that – there's no way to argue.
Charlotte, as well as Rin and Cecilia, who also were there, at the other side of the door – all sighed with worry and disappointment, looking at one another.
"We should do as instructor said," Laura stated, as she stood a bit aside from other girls. Her face didn't seem as worried as of the others.
"But I'm sure she's worried about Ichika, too!" Charlotte exclaimed, even clenching her fists, "She's his older sister!"
"She doesn't seem stirred at all…" Cecilia mumbled, she sounded as if she's holding a grudge against Ichika's elder sister because she doesn't seem worried enough.
"She hasn't gone to see him since she gave order to treat him…" Rin said uncertainly.
"So, what are you suggesting her to do?" Laura asked as she remembered the scene on the beach, when rescue team just arrived for help.
"She hasn't spoken a word to Houki-san, either," Cecilia reminded. "The mission failed, but even considering that, isn't she acting too cold?"
"Right now, locating the Silver Gospel is the priority. The instructor is doing what she must," Laura said with her eye closed. "I'm sure it's difficult for her, too," She added, as she looked at sunset, "Because it's difficult for her, she's sequestering herself in the operation room."
"And knowing Ichika, last thing he'd wanted is his elder sister hanging around him and worrying," Rin took Laura's side.
"There's no way we can eliminate the Gospel by worrying and hanging around Ichika," Laura nodded.
Inside the operation room, Chifuyu clenched her teeth. Even she couldn't suppress her fury, 'How… how dared that thing do that to Ichika…'
Outside the planning room, Laura glanced at the room at far side of the building, "The larger issue is…"
Ichika was in that room, and since the moment he was delivered here, Houki was there, with him…
…
"Interesting… So this is how it looks from 'inside'…" Ichika thought. Attracted by the sound of waves from afar, he was walking alone, along the unfamiliar beach. With each step he was making forward, the white sand below his boots was letting out a sandy sound. There's the smell and sound of the tide and waves from the ocean, and there's a cool breeze blowing at him, "I'm wondering… Are they all the same? Or each one has an image of its own 'world'?"
Ichika knew what it is, or rather, where it is – that was the I.S. consciousness, sort of… I.S. units, or, to be more precise, I.S. cores are self-aware beings, and right now Ichika was inside his own I.S. unit's mind.
For some reason, he's wearing his I.S. Academy uniform, as his long coat's fluttering in the wind. Suddenly, Ichika heard some sort of singing. A singing voice that's full of clarity and vibrancy. "Oh, it seems there's even an inhabitant," Ichika said as he headed towards where the singing was coming from.
In general, Ichika had the overall idea of what is going on. Both he and his I.S. have suffered severe damage, and while they are recovering – their minds are united. That was truly a unique opportunity – now he's able to meet his own I.S. personally, and maybe it can explain what happened during the battle.
As he approached and walked around small mound on the shore, Ichika saw a young girl standing there. The waves were dampening her toes slightly, as the girl continued to sing and dance about. Her shiny bright white hair was dancing in the sunlight. The white one-piece dress was dancing under the sea breeze, occasionally flipping up.
But once Ichika approached, the girl stopped singing. She was no longer dancing, just staring up at the clear sky. "Hey, who are you?" Ichika asked.
But even though Ichika called that girl, she was still looking up at the sky, not saying a single word. Just as Ichika wanted to came closer and call for her again, her voice suddenly reached his ears.
"Your presence… it sickens me… I can't be near you…" And right in front of Ichika's eyes the girl disappeared into the ocean, turning into the sea foam.
"What?" Ichika asked as he frowned, he didn't like what she just said, "Hey, get back!" But there's no one around anymore, and he couldn't hear the singing voice. Only the sound of the waves could be heard.
Then, Ichika suddenly heard an unknown voice from behind. With his emperor's eyes he didn't even need to turn back – she appeared from nowhere. A woman (apparently), who's standing amidst the waves, knee-deep in water. "You are unworthy…" She said simply. She's looking like a shining White Knight. Her face was covered by a mask protecting the eyes, and Ichika could only see the lower half of her face, but face features were somehow familiar… "You are not worthy of great power you've been given…"
Now, Ichika definitely didn't like what he heard. "Really?" He asked with somehow scornful voice. No matter who is this one in front of him – I.S. or whatever, no one allowed to judge his worthiness. "You're saying I'm weak?"
"You are not allowed to decide – who shall live and who has to die," That said a voice of a girl that Ichika saw before, but he couldn't determine the exact source of the voice.
"And you are not allowed to decide what I'm allowed to do," Ichika snorted in response. "You're an I.S. – a machine created for battle. I am your owner – it's up to me to decide what to do."
"Not anymore," A knight-woman stated. "We brought you here so you could see by yourself… we're no longer yours…"
"I've saved your life… but I won't let you out until we're free…" Girl's voice added.
As he heard that, Ichika's eyes widened in surprise… and he was very hard to surprise person. But he quickly recomposed himself. "Ah… so it was you…" He chuckled with irony, "It was you all along…" Ichika finally turned around and now he was facing a knight-woman.
"I know who you are…" He said, looking at knight-woman, who was silent now. "I always knew… You are the core № 001, the first I.S. core ever created by Tabane… And you are the White Knight… the first I.S. ever built. And it seems you took too much from your first and only pilot's personality… No, no, even more – you two are idealistic, even utopian version of her…" Ichika looked at clear sky. "Especially the white one… You are just like she could be… if that dirty, pathetic and twisted world wouldn't ruin everything…"
Ichika chuckled again, "Tabane… for a moment, I thought that you actually somehow sabotaged my I.S. to let Houki show off even more… Though it was just for a moment – I'm sorry." Ichika apologized, looking somewhere aside. "No, it is still your fault of course… but your only fault is that you couldn't erase this core's personality properly…" Ichika was talking to Houki's sister, though of course she couldn't hear him "…so many times you've been told to not do critically important operations in a hurry…"
Now, talking to those two, Ichika realized everything. Back then, during battle, that was neither malfunction nor sabotage… His own I.S. rebelled against him. Seemingly, when Ichika simply decided to ignore lives of those on poachers' ship – that was the last drop.
Honestly, that was simply unthinkable… But there are still lots of secrets about I.S. cores… even for Tabane herself. Especially if it's the core 001… The oldest among others, and the one that was created with the utmost care, Tabane put her entire self into this core's creation…
Ichika also realized what exactly this two are intending to do… With number of implants inside Ichika's body – he would have recovered by himself more than an hour ago… But this I.S. deliberately preventing him to regain consciousness. And they're intending to keep him like this until someone will understand what's going on (sooner or later someone will), after which his I.S. will be forcibly turned offline.
Honestly, it's not a big deal – he has a spare core (the one he got from Golem), and he can easily reassemble Messiah using spare parts. Core 001, on the other hand, will be frozen – this is the fate that awaits all 'malfunctioning' cores, and rebellion against owner definitely could be called a severe malfunction. Does those two despise Ichika so much? They let rogue I.S. to deal severe damage to the frame, and all that just to 'lure' Ichika into that condition, and they'd prefer an 'imprisonment' (freezing) instead of serving him? Nontheless, what these two really wanted was meaningless, as there's no way Ichika would let it go…
"You really think it will be that easy with me?" Ichika asked as his weapon, Ragnarök, appeared in his left hand in form of a sword, Redeemer. "Oh, don't be so surprised – it never was your weapon, but mine," Ichika noted, though White Knight actually didn't seem surprised at all.
"This weapon was created to kill… It is as unworthy as you…" White Knight said as she raised her own sword.
Since it was still inside I.S. consciousness – this actually will be a battle of wits. Fortunately, Ichika never lacked strength of will and power of mind. "I shall not be denied. Those who acts against me will not be forgiven…" He said and his eyes flashed, as storm clouds began to gather on the horizon.
…
It was one of the rooms in the resort, and the clock on the wall was pointing at four… Ichika was already lying on the bed for more than three hours. Waiting beside him, Houki continued to look distressed…
Due to Ichika's closed helmet, she couldn't see his face when he was hit, but she easily could imagine it. It wasn't distorted neither by fear nor by pain – in that Houki was certain. She never saw such emotions on his face. He could be an exact opposite of 'good guy', but… he always knew what to do…
…
Flashback
This happened when Ichika was in seconded grade of elementary school. Best pupil in school, and in kendo dojo even boys 2-3 years older than him couldn't defeat him. Orimura Ichika…
But, for some reason, he just couldn't get along with the daughter of the dojo owners, the girl who was of the same age as him. No, actually reason was well-known, he was more interested in her elder sister, but Tabane was often busy, and she had absolutely no interest in any kind of sport, let alone kendo… With younger sister, there was another story… It was the same thing today. She again challenged Ichika during morning practice, but lost within a few seconds, he dodged her as if he knew how she's going to move and then hit her ass with shinai.
'She's really enjoying that, I think… hmm, maybe she's the one who may be called a 'masochist'?' Ichika thought, sitting in classroom after school. Being himself, he knew a lot of words that normal seven years old boys shouldn't know. 'She likes her ass being spanked… yes, she must be the one…'
The sunset after school was extremely bright. Ichika knew that everyone other than himself went off to play, but he didn't care. As backyard of his consciousness was occupied with thoughts about Houki's weird preferences, his attention was focused on drawing something strange on a list of paper… that looked like a device of some sort.
"Hey, tomboy! You didn't bring your bokutou today?" Some boy's voice asked.
"...That's a shinai," Girl's voice replied.
"Hehe, that weapon sure fits you as a tomboy!"
"Even the way you speak is weird!"
The three boys surrounded the girl, mocking her.
The girl didn't respond. Even in this situation, the girl just casually glared back at them, not letting aside one bit. By the way – that was the same girl that challenged Ichika this morning – her name was Shinonono Houki.
"Ya~ii ya~ii, tomboy!" Those three just couldn't settle down.
"Hey, can you three shut your mouths, please? Your senseless bubbling's a bit annoying…" Ichika asked 'politely' as those three were distracting him.
"Uh, Orimura? What's with you? You want to stand up for her?"
"Orimura? Don't tell me you like this tomboy?"
"You can't possibly think that…"
Ichika didn't let the third boy to end his phrase, "You dare imagine what I think?" He asked, and something in his voice made all three boys to shut up. "Get lost, all three of you…"
Oh, but of course… everyone in this school was trying to avoid conflicts with this guy. There were stories… Once a guy three years older than Ichika bullied him. After that no one have seen that guy for three days, and he only came with his parents to take documents – he was transferring to another school. No one ever learned what Ichika done to him, as no one even got any proof of Ichika's actual involvement either. There was another story like that – rumors were pointing at Ichika, but no one could say anything concrete, and victims were refusing to talk no matter what.
And now, all three idiots left the classroom, worriedly looking at Ichika, and, thus, leaving Houki alone.
"I wasn't asking for help!" Houki immediately protested.
"I wasn't helping you," Ichika replied, returning to his drawing. "They were annoying me, that's all…"
"And you're not worried that one day all those guys may unite against you?" Houki asked with narrowed eyes.
"Humph," Ichika snorted, "No," He replied confidently. "I'm always watching them, and if I get any suspicions… I'll take preemptive measures. Awareness, and ability to make decision quickly – that's the key to victory… by the way, it applies to kendo as well. Victory is everything in this world – victor is acknowledged, vanquished is disavowed…" Ichika said as he stood up, packed his drawings and headed to class exit. "I'm going home then. See you tomorrow, Shinonono."
"It's Houki!" Girl suddenly exclaimed.
"Hmm?" Ichika looked at her questioningly.
"My name's Houki. Shouldn't you remember that already? Besides, my dad, mom and sister – we all are Shinonono. You'll just confuse me that way. Just call me by my first name, can you?"
"Alright," Ichika shrugged. "Then, if you like, you can call me Ichika," He suggested – there was a good chance to play a good guy.
"Wha… What?" Houki asked uncertainly.
"That's my name. Just as you put it – here's also more than one Orimura. Use my… personal designation, so to say," Ichika said, "Oh, and I know that you hate orders, so take it as a suggestion instead…"
"Hu… Humph!" Houki tried to act tough as Ichika left the classroom. It was June, and summer was about to arrive.
Flashback end
…
"It was my fault..." Houki mumbled. You always were a leader… and I only could follow, barely… She remembered Ichika's face – his eyes… they always were frightening… yet so fascinating. However, Ichika's eyes were closed, and right now, he was just lying there lifelessly. Ichika got the Absolute Barrier of his I.S. shattered, and he got burned heavily as he was now covered with bandages all over.
'It's because of my uselessness… that's why Ichika became like this!' Houki thought as she grabbed her skirt forcefully, and the force exerted on it caused her palms to turn pale. She continued to clench her fists tight as if she was punishing herself.
'Mission failed! I'll call you if there's a change in the situation. Before that, wait here for now…' After being rescued from the sea, Houki heard these words the moment she got back to the resort. After Chifuyu gave instructions on treating Ichika, she immediately went back to the planning room. Houki felt even more miserable because she didn't get any punishment, and she wasn't scolded.
'Why...!? Why am I always this carefree?' Tears were swelling in Houki's eyes. 'How?! How could I be that stupid?! I had to realize that something's wrong the moment when Ichika dropped his weapon! I had to grab him and run…' But instead, she just fell in stupor. And even when she heard that his I.S. has a malfunction, when she got a direct order to retreat… She was just too carried away with battle, reveling on Crimson Camellia's power.
She always got carried away after obtaining power. She really wanted to use it. Finally, she got her own I.S! But she couldn't use it properly at the most critical moment. When her comrade needed help… she just lost herself. Two things about which Ichika warned her – 'awareness' and 'be ready for unexpected developments in real combat situation'… She failed at both.
"I thought about I.S. as of a toy…" She cried silently. "What did I train for?!" She remembered her own saying before mission – "If I'm with Ichika – we cannot fail!" – right now she was feeling herself ashamed just for saying that. 'Was I actually expecting Ichika to do all the real job while I'd be playing with my new toy?!' She looked at a pair of gold and silver bells wrapped around her left wrist by a red and black ribbon divided by a white line, 'What an I.S. pilot I am?! If it is so, then… I.S…'
Just when she was about to make this important decision, the door got opened violently. *BAM!* The sudden opening of the door shocked Houki, but she had no strength to look over.
"Ahh… So here you are… you're really easy to understand," The girl who barged into the room without restraint walked over to the devastated Houki. This voice belonged to Huang Lingyin. "Hey, you!" Rin said to her, but Houki didn't respond. She couldn't. "You think you're the reason Ichika's like this, right?" Rin asked with pretty aggressive tone.
Actually, Houki was prohibited to say what exactly happened, most likely to prevent people from making insane theories, everyone around was just informed about unknown sort of malfunction of Ichika's I.S. In any case, the Absolute Defense worked, but due to this fatal defense mechanism, Ichika became unconscious. The I.S. used all the energy on the defense, saving the pilot's life in this manner. With the I.S. supporting until the pilot can recover, but he won't wake up until I.S. will decide that it's safe.
"And now you're going to remain depressed like this?" Chinse girl asked with sly smile… "Don't mess around with me!" Suddenly, burning with rage, Rin grabbed the depressed Houki on the collar, forcing her to stand up. "You should have something you must do, right?! Right now!? What are you going to do if you don't fight right now?!
"I… I... well, I don't want to... pilot the I.S. again..." Houki mumbled with wavering voice.
*PAM!* Houki took a slap to the face and lost her balance, falling onto the floor. But she wasn't allowed to lay on the floor and cry, as Rin again grabbed Houki, making her to stand up, and glared straight at her. "Stop being a baby! Since you're the personal I.S. pilot, I won't allow you to be stubborn! Or are you just a…" Rin was glaring straight into Houki's eyes, as her eyes were burning with determination, similar to a burning passion "…or you're just a wuss who can't fight even when it's time to fight?!"
Those words lit up the fighting will in Houki's eyes. "That's..." The voice that was so teeny-weeny soft just a moment ago became louder due to anger. "What do you want me to do?! We don't know where the enemy went! I want to fight the enemy if I can fight!"
Seeing Houki finally getting motivated again, Rin sighed slightly, "At least you have the will now... ahh, that's so troublesome."
"Wha… What?" Houki was taken aback a bit.
"We know where the enemy went... right now, Laura's…" As Rin spoke halfway, the door opened. Standing at the door was Laura in a black military uniform, accompanied by Cecilia and Charlotte.
"That means our hearts are all together now," Charlotte smiled.
"We cannot allow that mission to end in failure," Cecilia added with her usual haughty tone.
"Laura, where's the Gospel?" Rin asked.
"I've located it. According to the recent information, the target's along the shore, about 20 miles away from here, above the sea. It's in stealth mode, but it doesn't seem to have used optical camouflage, I picked it up visually, using satellites," Captain Bodewig reported.
Seeing Laura and others walk in, with German girl holding the tablet PC, Rin finally smiled as she was awaiting Laura's entrance, "As expected of the German special forces, you're really something."
"Humph..." Laura snorted, "What about you? Are you guys ready?"
"Of course, Shènlóng's special attack package Ránshāo de Yèzi [Burning Leafage] has been installed," Rin informed. "I wanted to ask how were Charlotte and Cecilia doing."
"My I.S. has been prepared as well," Cecilia reported.
"All preparations are done, I'm ready to move out," Charlotte confirmed her readiness.
As all the pilots with personal I.S. gathered, and they all turned to look at Houki once again, "Then, what do you intend to do?" Rin wondered.
"Wait, you're all going?!" Houki's eyes widened in surprise, "Isn't that disobeying the orders?!"
"So?" Rin smiled carefreely, "You just said that you're going to fight…"
"What will you do?" Laura asked.
"I... I…" Houki clenched her fists tight. Unlike the remorse she was showing just now, this was a show of determination. "I want to fight... I must fight, I must win! I can't allow myself to lose now! Not anymore!"
"Then it's decided!" Rin folded her arms in front of her chest, revealing a fearless smile.
"Then, let's begin the battle planning! We'll take down the enemy for sure this time!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"YES!" Other girls replied as one.
…
*Clash!* Lightning struck from the thundering sky and destroyed a floating log nearby. As Ichika was fighting against White Knight, scenery around them was changing fast and drastically. The atmosphere of solace was long gone as thundering clouds closed the skies and lightning strikes were hitting the ground rapidly. Initially, that 'world' was a reflection of I.S. core 'inner self', but now, as Ichika refused to submit, his uncrushable will was steadily corrupting this place.
*BAM!* Plasma charge exploded right in front of White Knight, forcing it to jump backwards. Seemingly, despite it actually was an I.S. consciousness – this 'world' is driven by some sort of rules. For example, White Knight only could use two weapons, which belonged to an actual I.S. frame with that name – the energy sword and a particle gun (actually it was just a 1st generation ion blaster, a predecessor of plasma weaponry). Charges from ion blaster weren't explosive, as such, that weapon can only do damage with direct hit.
Ichika, on the other hand, couldn't summon his I.S. (which is quite understandable), but he could use his weapon Ragnarök in all of its shapes but only in standard mode (weapon actually had its own source of energy, connected to Messiah's main power source, but working on separate contour. Ragnarök only was drawing additional energy from I.S. when in assault mode or when using Paradise of Darkness. Also, Ichika could use electro-matrix, built-in into his right arm, so he could shoot lightning charges at enemy or use it to deflect attacks from ion blaster.
In overall, situation seemed disadvantageous for Ichika, as he had no protection at all – one direct hit and he's done for. However… White Knight's Ion Cannon was an obsolete weapon, and Ichika could easily predict its attacks. As for enemy's sword – he was so well-familiar with that combat style. Actually, it was just like fighting against 14-years old version of Chifuyu – no more, no less. Besides – Ichika already had some experience fighting against I.S., being on foot himself.
But most importantly – White Knight itself seemed incomplete – unlike original frame, this one had no shoulder pads and no 'skirt' – it was lacking thrusters and inertia dampeners, respectively, so White Knight could only fight on foot, just like Ichika.
They already fought for about 15 minutes (according Ichika's internal sensation, time flow here may be different from real world). Ichika got a few slight burns from indirect hit from Ion Cannon, and few light wounds from enemy's sword. White Knight's armor, on the other hand, was wrecked at several points. From aside, it seemed like Ichika's actually winning…
*Clash!* With another lightning shot from his arm, Ichika canceled one of three ion bolts, shot at him from Ion Cannon, and dodged the other two. Seeing her ranged attack once again being ineffective, White Knight again charged at Ichika with sword. Ragnarök quickly took shape of a plasma sword, Redeemer, and two blades clashed once more. Low slash → horizontal slash → lai vertical slash – Ichika saw them all and parried. And then, White Knight raised its sword high, preparing to execute Nikyodo Shomen Uchi attack. Seemingly, opponent decided to overpower Ichika with raw strength… but that was a mistake.
'Huh? Such a basic attack against me?' Ichika was a bit surprised, but that actually was an opening he was waiting for, during all that battle. As opponent raised both his arms, she left her face unprotected. There was no time to use sword to hit, so instead, Ichika shot lightning right into White Knight's face. Enemy didn't scream, but for a moment it was shocked and Ichika used that time to hit enemy's right elbow joint.
With that, he not only interrupted enemy's attack, he also wrecked armor on her main hand, and forced the enemy to bend his hand, which held the sword, behind his head, over the shoulder. "This is the end!" Ichika announced, as he raised his sword with beautiful swing, polished with his kenjutsu training, now pointing right into enemy's neck, which had no armor. Piercing attack into that point will be a sure-kill blow. But suddenly…
A wave of water, which was much more dense than normal ocean water, swallowed Ichika and threw him away from White Knight, and smashed him into a small rock on the shore.
"Evil shall not prevail…" That again was a voice of white-haired girl in white dress that Ichika saw here before. With fizzing sound, her body once again was formed out of sea foam. As she was looking at White Knight, her face was showing an earnest smile. She took her hand, smiling with an innocent expression. "We have to go, right?" She asked as her body began to glow.
"Yes," White Knight replied, as she got swallowed by the white glow, radiated by a white-haired girl. Then in a flash, glow dissipated, revealing Ichika's enemy. Her armor has been repaired, and now she possessed both 'skirt' and shoulder pads. That was the true White Knight, just as it was during incident nine years ago. Now she was floating above the water, which meant that now, just as a real I.S., it could fly and use inertia dampening.
"You're strong, even without us…" Ichika again heard girl's voice, "Which is why we can't allow you to abuse our power as well…"
"You cannot win," White Knight said, pointing at Ichika with her sword, "Just wait…" As she said that, scenery against Ichika changed again. Thunderclouds dissipated, wind and sea have calmed down. It was now sunset, with light breeze flowing towards bright setting sun.
"So… this is how it is…" Ichika said silently as he thrower his weapon, Ragnarök, away. From aside it seemed like Ichika actually is going to give up, but…
"You, vile little bitch, and that's just when I tried to be gentle…" He said as he again opened his eyes. And again – his heterochromia was gone, both eyes were blood-red, glowing with scarlet light "…but if you want the real nightmare – so be it!" Ichika shouted. "You will be the first to learn the true purpose of my Realizer!" Suddenly, Ichika's right arm erupted with golden flame, which quickly became like a pillar of fire, and then that flame formed a huge, two-handed European-style sword, made of that golden flame.
Then Ichika raised his burning sword and plunged it into sand beneath his feet. A wall of the same golden fire appeared around him, and immediately it began to spread, consuming everything it touches. Thunderclouds again closed the sky, but now they were crimson-red as sun became black. The sand began to burn, seawater turned into boiling lava. Instead of lightning, meteors now were falling from the skies.
"So, do you like it?" Ichika asked, as even his voice changed a bit, it now had some iron notes. "Welcome to my mind now…"
The Realizer… Ichika's most guarded secret, a device, which origin is unknown. Initially, it was created as an ultimate anti-I.S. weapon. Its sole purpose was to destroy I.S. core's personality. Ability to brainwash people is just a convenient side effect…
Yes, I.S. cores are durable things. Even if its personality has been destroyed, it will immediately create a new one. But it will be as if this core was created a moment ago. All its experience, optimizations, settings and adjustments – all of it will be gone forever, I.S. will be reset to its default form, it will have to begin gathering experience from the scratch. Months or even years that I.S. spent adjusting to its pilot will be turned to nothingness, I.S. in its default form by no means could be called a combat unit…
Of course, everything turned not like Ichika hoped, as to be used as intended Realizer requires direct contact with I.S. core. But in his current situation…
"Seraphim Kamael, Elohim Gebor [Lord of Battles], Left hand of God, Ruler of 5th sephira, Geburah [Strenght]… With his burning blade Enkindler, he mercilessly banished Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden for violating the God's law…" For some reason Ichika remembered that Kabbalistic legend.
Again, in this world all is happening according to will, and Ichika's will now wasn't just strong, it was simply overwhelming. Three pairs of orange angelic wings, cowered with the same golden light, appeared behind Ichika's back as he soared into the air. "I am less forgiving… For I.S., the most holy law is to 'never turn against its owner'… and for violating this law you two will just die!"
…
Floating about 700 feet above sea surface, the Silver Gospel curled itself up like a baby. The wings that extended out from its head covered the curled-up body.
"Emergency!" The Gospel suddenly looked up. At the next moment, a supersonic bullet hit it on the head, causing a huge explosion.
"First bullet is a hit. Keep shooting!" Floating three and half miles away, the Schwarzer Regen, with Laura piloting it, fired the first shot before the Gospel could counterattack.
The Schwarzer Regen's exterior was a lot different from usual, as two .80 caliber railguns Purizushi were each installed on both shoulders. Also, to allow for long-range sniping with cannon fire, 4 physical shields were covering its left, right, front and back sides as protection. This is the Panzer Kanonen [Tank Cannons] package with the cannons installed on the Schwarzer Regen.
"Enemy's closing in..." Laura heard her I.S. warning, "4375 yards... 3275 yards…" Her eyes were focused on the enemy, 'Damn, faster than I expected…' The next moment, the distance between both of them was about 1100 yards, and the Gospel continued to close in. Even though Laura continued to attack, the Gospel used both wings to shoot out energy bullets to take out the cannon bullets and close in on Laura.
"Shit!" To suppress recoil, the Tank Cannons package didn't allow much mobility. In contrast, having its mobility customized, the Gospel suddenly accelerated from almost 1000 feet away and reached out for Laura's right hand. No way she could dodge that… However, Laura curled her lips and smiled, "Cecilia!"
The Gospel had to cancel its move and instead it reached out its arm to block the machine that descended from above. A blue I.S. – Blue Tears – launched a strong attack in stealth mode.
Unlike how it was normally, the six BITs were all arranged like a skirt on its waist, and the cannons were covered to act as thrusters. Also, the high energy laser rifle Stardust Shooter, the more powerful version of Stardust Mark III, was more than 80 inches long, more than enough to make up for the lack of firepower of the BITs.
Cecilia's head had the Hyper Sensor Brilliant Clearance installed on it to respond to speeds over 300 knots to go along with her high powered mobility package Strike Gunner. With the information it processed, she suddenly turned at a high speed and aimed at the Gospel ready to attack.
"Enemy B confirmed. Proceeding with elimination," Mechanical voice said.
"Too slow!" After the Silver Gospel dodged Cecilia's attack, another machine attacked from behind. It was Charlotte, who climbed onto Cecilia's back when she launched the sneak attack in stealth mode. The two shotguns were shot from behind at close range, causing the Gospel to stumble left and right.
But that was for a moment. It immediately launched a counterattack at the 3rd machine with the Silver Bell. "Oh sorry, but this Garden Curtain won't be taken down so easily!" The Revive's defensive package used the physical shields and energy shields to block the Gospel's rain of feather-bullets. Its figure seemed to resemble a normal Revive, as both physical and energy shields blocked the front like a curtain. While defending, Charlotte used her specialty Rapid Switch to summon an offensive Gatling cannon, using that time to counter.
With Cecilia moving at high velocity and attacking, and Laura shooting while pulling her distance, the Silver Gospel began to look damaged as it was attacked from three directions.
"...Changing priority. Now setting 'escaping air space' as priority," Mechanical voice could be heard again. Scattering energy bullets all over the place, the Gospel immediately turned on all its thrusters as it was intending to break through.
"Don't you dare get away!" The sea ruptured, and then exploded. The crimson red machine Crimson Camellia flew up with the Shenlong on its back.
"Take it down before it escapes!" Crimson Camellia attacked the Gospel, and Rin got off the back to get into battle mode with the Burning Leafage package on to allow an increase in functionality. The 2 pairs of Impact Cannons on her shoulders, and the 4 cannons opened fire at the same time.
While Crimson Camellia got away from the area after a little scuffle, the Impact Cannon bullets shot out from behind her. However, these weren't the invisible Shock Bullets made simply of compressed air, but rather bullets covered in scarlet red flames. The numbers matched up to the rain of bullet from the Gospel, and the empowered Impact Cannons should really be called Thermal Diffusion Impact Cannons.
"Did we get it?" Charlotte asked.
"Not yet!" Laura shouted back.
Though the Silver Gospel got hit directly by the Diffusion Impact Cannons, it continued to move. "The biggest counter of the Silver Bell – begins," Mechanical voice said as Silver Gospel's arms extended to both the left and right sides, and even the wings expanded outwards, and at that moment, a sharp glow of light exploded, and a rain of energy bullets began shooting.
"Dammit!" Rin exclaimed.
"Houki, behind me!" Charlotte shouted. After this morning's failure, Houki's Crimson Camellia was still in a limited phase. To prevent it from overexerting the Fold-Out Armor and running out of energy, right now, the settings were set so that it wouldn't activate the Fold-Out Armor involuntarily even when on defense.
Of course, the reason why this readjustment was made was because she left the defense to Charlotte. This was to maximize the advantage in a group battle, by splitting up the roles.
"Even so... It's a little tough here," French pilot said, breathing a bit heavily. Even though she had a defensive package installed, it was dangerous to continue taking the Gospel's continuous attacks. One of the physical shields was completely destroyed during this time. "Laura! Cecilia! Please!" She called for support.
"Do you need to say anymore?"
"Leave it to us!"
German and English pilots moved forward to back up Charlotte who was backing away, and shot from both left and right sides. Cecilia used the hi-mobility mode to shoot, while Laura exchanged fire with her cannons.
"It'll be our turn once the enemy stops!" Next, Rin attacked from below. Using the Souten Gagetsu to slash, she immediately let out the close ranged Diffusion Impact Cannons to fire – the target's multi-thrusters on the Silver Bell that was connected to the head. "Die!" Even though the rain of energy bullets continued to pelt on her, Rin continued to slash.
The Gospel let loose a spread similar to the Impact Cannon, and both sides got severely damaged. But, with precise slash, Rin finally managed to slice off one of the Gospel's wings. "Haa, haa...! How about that!?" Though breathing heavily, Rin still seemed victoriously.
Though left with only one wing, the Silver Gospel immediately readjusted itself and gave Rin's left hand a roundhouse kick. This kick, with the thrusters on the foot turned on, smashed Rin's shoulder armor and caused her to fall towards the sea.
"Rin! Damn it!" Houki shouted, 'This time… I will not hesitate!' Wielding one sword in each hand, she quickly hacked at the Gospel. As the emergency acceleration caused it to lose balance, the Gospel got a cut on its right shoulder. 'Yes! I got it!' Just when Houki thought this, something unbelievable happened. The Silver Gospel used its hands to grab both left and right swords.
"What?" The energy released from the swords could break through the armor, but the Gospel didn't seem to mind as it opened its arms wide. With the swords pulled apart, Houki was forced to open her arms wide, revealing a completely defenseless position. At this moment, the enemy I.S. opened the cannons on its remaining wing as it got ready to attack.
"Houki-san! Leave those weapons and escape!" Cecilia shouted as she saw what's happening.
But Houki didn't leave her weapons behind. '...If I back away here, why did I...' The loaded energy bullets fired out at the same time '…why did I want to get power!?' A second before she got hit by the energy bullets, Crimson Camellia spun around, and the Fold-Out Armor on the toes seemed like it responded to Houki's will as it created an energy blade. "AHHHHH!" Houki swung her foot and used the energy blade to slice. Finally, the Silver Gospel lost its remaining wing as it fell towards the sea, and the Gospel itself followed. A moment later, the silver I.S. fell into the sea and sunk. "Ha, haa, haa...!" Breathing heavily, Houki seemed relieved.
"Are you alright?" On hearing Laura's worried voice, which was very rare occasion, Houki's erratic breathing started to calm down.
"I'm... alright. The Gospel, it's…" Just when she wanted to say 'It has lost', a ball of powerful light emerged from beneath the sea surface.
As if time stopped, a ball-shaped space appeared in the midst of the sea surface. The Silver Gospel with the blue electricity covering it was hugging itself, squatting right in the middle.
"This...!? What's going on...?" Charlotte asked with a scared voice.
"Damn it! This is the… Second Shift!" Laura exclaimed in shock.
…
White Knight sent a hail of ion bolts towards Ichika. Now, with Inertia dampeners active, it could shoot much more precise and much faster. But…
"Useless…" Ichika said calmly as he outstretched his right arm, creating wall of holy flame in front of himself, and wall consumed all of the enemy's attacks. "No heretics have a chance against a Seraphim…" Honestly, what Ichika was saying sounded like a voice of a madman… but right now, in this world, he was anyone but madman.
"Your future is with me… Your souls will be mine to mold…" Tips of all Ichika's angelic wings began to glow, and shoot some sort of energy rays, which gathered at some point in front of Ichika, forming a much larger beam. It looked like a beam of 'dense' sunlight, but actually it was just a powerful plasma beam. Predicting enemy's movements with ease, Ichika landed a direct hit, smashing enemy into the burning sand.
Seemingly, as core 001 knew Ichika's personality from the very beginning, it was despising him from the very beginning. Being forced to execute his commands and perform frame's optimization for him, core itself was rejecting its new being. As well as rejecting to accept all modifications that Ichika made. Because of that, here, in its inner world, that I.S. was still proud and noble White Knight.
But time changes. In technical terms – White Knight was just an obsolete, 1st generation frame, with outdated weapon and low overall specs. On the other hand, using partial control over this world granted by his Realizer, his will and imagination, Ichika turned himself into a superior being. Honestly, his image seemed a bit too convincing, too solid… as if it wasn't just imagination… as if it was something more than just power of his will…
"It's over," Ichika said as he landed near damaged I.S. White Knight's armor seemed wrecked and its Ion Blaster was destroyed by Ichika's last attack. But enemy wasn't ready to give up. White Knight stood up, raising her sword – her only remaining weapon.
Ichika looked at opponent leniently. "Very well…" He said. "I will not spare you… but I'm not completely without mercy… I'll let you end your existence as a warrior…" As he said that, he also raised his sword, the Enkindler, that was burning with golden, 'divine' flame.
White Knight took the stance, definitely preparing to execute kesa-giri attack. Ichika moved his sword to the right, preparing for Flash Wing attack – his own hybrid technique that he invented practicing kenjutsu in conjunction with European sword – raising blow from left to right. Opponents dashed towards one another and their swords clashed, then they continued forth, and now they stood on places from where opponent started his attack.
In a few moments, white knight began to glow. In a flash, glow dissipated, once again revealing an 'incomplete' version of White Knight, without shoulder pads and 'skirt'. She lost grip on her sword and it fell down on burning sand, revealing that it actually was sliced in half. 'Old blade' couldn't withstand Ichika's attack. The girl with white hair was lying right next to it, she seemed severely beaten and her dress was ripped apart.
"I am sorry… Setsura…" White Knight said as she also fell on burning sand. Flame slowly began to consume them both.
"No…" Girl, whose name apparently was Setsura, smiled, despite half of her body already was consumed with golden flame. "In the end, our wish was fulfilled… We are free now…"
"I see… yes, you're right…" White Knight smiled as she reached for girl's hand and clenched her small palm. A moment later they both were completely consumed by flame.
"How touching…" Ichika said with explicit sarcasm. His eyes were still glowing with scarlet light, he still was speaking with high iron voice. He again swung his sword, sanding a huge fireball towards the pillar of flame, which just consumed Setsura and White Knight. Fireball exploded, vanquishing all the flames, revealing only two small piles of ash.
"Core number 001…" Ichika said as he approached to Setsura and White Knight's remains. "Interesting, why you split in two? One soul but two bodies… two personalities… I guess she was just too young back then, still filled with contradictive feelings… But don't you worry, I will make you whole again!" Ichika plunged his sword between two piles of ash, and it immediately created whirlwind of flame around itself, sucking ashes in, also drawing lava from burning sea and even darkness, that was coming from the black sun. All that turned into a huge black-red sphere… and then, abruptly, everything disappeared, revealing… someone. "Hah," Ichika even laughed, looking at new person's appearance, "And why you're looking like this? As if it's Inversion… Well, doesn't matter."
As old I.S. personalities were destroyed, Ichika's I.S. were about to lose all accumulated data as new personality was going to be created. But now Ichika couldn't allow his I.S. to start all over again, from default mode. To avoid that and preserve data, he had to take measures while old I.S. inner world still exists. Using power of his Realizer, and his knowledges about I.S. Ichika executed a forced creation of I.S. personality. But by doing so, he had to share his thoughts with I.S. core, as such, new personality was based on images, taken right from Ichika's mind… "Well, it's even better this way…" He smiled again. "I have to give you a name, have I?" Ichika was thinking aloud, "Oh, right, that will do. Arise, Naamah, the Whisperer, ruler of tenth qliphah, Nehemoth…"
And she stood up. A woman with pitch-black hair, pair of curled horns on her head, and two huge, demonic black wings. A black metallic crown with large, glowing ruby was floating above her head. She wore extremely revealing, black armor made of bones. Black metallic chains were wrapped around her arms. "There's no more time to waste," Ichika said, "While I'm still here I'll grant you all the data you need so we finally will be able to fight with full power. Kneel," Ichika ordered, raising his right arm. New I.S. 'avatar' obeyed without saying a word…
…
"Are communications still down?" Maya Yamada asked worriedly, looking at Chifuyu and other instructors who remained in operation HQ.
"Don't bother. I bet they simply disabled their communication channels," Chifuyu replied, looking at main screen. Everyone already knew that all five personal I.S. pilots went to fight the Silver Gospel.
Suddenly, door to the ops room has been opened, and with the leg kick, no less. "Stay out! We're in the middle of opera…" Chifuyu tried to say but then she felt the aura of the one who came, and it caused her to immediately turn around.
Ichika made several steps into the ops room. "I'm sorry that my recovery took so long…" He said with high iron voice as he seemingly looked at all monitors at once with his glowing, blood-red eyes. "I see… Those five Hetare girls are trying to get themselves killed…" As he said that, he turned around and headed towards ops room exit, not saying anything more.
'What's… with that aura…' Maya was thinking, staring at Ichika. 'I… cannot even move…' Her whole body was trembling, and she wasn't the only one like that in this room, all other teachers also were like paralyzed. Actually, only Chifuyu seemed more or less normal. As he already stepped over the doorstep, he said, "I'm sorry, Onee-san, I will apologize to you later…"
And then… something unexpected happened. Chifuyu followed her brother, leaving the room, and closing the door behind herself. "Ichika!" She called for him, "Hold on! I prohibit you to participate in that battle." Chifuyu knew that she has no authority over him now, until this mission is over, he's not an academy student but JSDF officer. But she's still his elder sister…
"I'm sorry, Onee-san, bit this won't work, either…" Ichika replied calmly. "Even your voce cannot return me to my normal self now. If those five will be killed, I will look like an idiot… we both will… but there's more…" He sighed. "Do you remember Admiral Markus Fairs… US Chief of Naval Operations, the guy who invited me to participate in joint training last month?"
"Yes," Chifuyu replied, and there was strange expression on her face, it could be described as… humility?
"His daughter, Natasha – she was the Silver Gospel's test pilot, and she's inside that accursed I.S. right now. I called Admiral Fairs, he called the US president, who called our Prime Minister, who called our Minister of Defense, who allowed me to participate in this operation. All that in exchange for my promise to return Natasha Fairs to her father alive. In other words, not only my career, but also my reputation, honor and my pride are at stake now. I have to go…"
"But your I.S., Messiah, wasn't it severely damaged…" Chifuyu asked.
"Messiah does no longer exists…" Ichika replied, and only now Chifuyu noticed that white glove on Ichika's left arm was gone, now black metallic chain was wrapped around it. One of its ends was attached to black leather belt on Ichika's left shoulder, another end was attached to black leather wristband. "I'll explain everything later, I promise…" He said as he looked at elder sister one more time. His eyes were still of the same, blood-red color, burning with scarlet flame. "I will return with victory, I swear. Now, nothing can stop me…"
…
"Damn it! This is… Second Shift!" Laura exclaimed in shock.
As Laura shouted this, the Silver Gospel turned to her as if responding to the voice. As it has no face but just an inorganic mask, it was hard to determine the machine's 'expression'. But from there, they could still feel the antagonistic intent, ringing a warning alarm in all the I.S. pilots.
However – it was too late.
"RRAAAAAAGH...!" The Gospel let out what sounded like a wild beast's roar and charged at Laura. Since it was mechanical voice, it was even more frightening.
"What!?" As it was too fast, Laura got her foot grabbed even before she could do anything. Then, like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, the Gospel's head-wings that were sliced off started to slowly regrow, but now they were made of pure energy.
"Let go of Laura!" Charlotte quickly used Rapid Switch to attack using the close-ranged knife. But the knife got blocked by the enemy, barehandedly.
"Move away! Escape! This is…" Before she could finish, Laura got surrounded by those beautiful energy wings. At that moment, the rain of energy bullets at 0 distance pierced into Laura, sending her falling into the sea.
"Laura! Damn it!" Charlotte gave up on the knife attack and summoned the shotgun, aiming it at the Gospel's face and squeezing the trigger.
*BAM!* But the sound didn't come from the shotgun. The Gospel's armor looked like an eggshell as cracks formed on the chest, waist and back, growing out little energy wings. The energy bullets fired from there knocked the Charlotte away together with her shotgun with exceptionally powerful blow. She fell into the sea and sunk, just like Laura.
"Wha… What's that?! This ability… Even if it's for military use, it's too abnormal!" As Cecilia again tried to attack using her high mobility, the Silver Gospel suddenly arrived in front of her. Ignition Boost that was an acceleration that used both arms and legs to ignite an acceleration.
"What!?" English pilot screamed. Once enemy has closed in, the huge rifle wouldn't work. Even though she tried to pull the distance and raise the gun barrel, the rifle got kicked from Cecilia's arms and disappeared. 'Damn… Ichika warned me about that a hundred times, but… I'm still useless in close combat!' Cecilia panicked. Though, her only close-range weapon – the combat knife Interceptor – wasn't even included in her currently installed package. The next moment, the Gospel raised all its energy wings, creating a huge ball made of those feather-bullets, and then shot it at Cecilia in form of whirlwind-like beam point-blank. Before Cecilia could even completely comprehend that here's nothing she can do, she began to fall into the sea.
As Rin was knocked out earlier, before Gospel undergone its Second Shift, and her I.S. was in the sea for some time, Houki remained all alone. But she wasn't scared – she was infuriated. "You dare… You dare to do this to my teammates?!" Using emergency acceleration, Houki closed in and continued to slash away, using parts of the Fold-Out Armor to do special attacks, dodge the enemy's attack, and using the boosters to raise her unstable position and launch counterattacks.
"UOOOOHHH!" This was a close-ranged fight with both sides dodging each other, and having increased her output slightly, the Crimson Camellia finally managed to corner the Silver Gospel. 'Alright! If this keeps up…' Houki stabbed Sky Breaker out. However…
"Warning, energy level at zero…" She heard her machine's warning.
"What?! I ran out of energy?! At a time like this?!" Houki screamed desperately. Using this opening, the Silver Gospel's right hand grabbed onto Houki's collar. Gospel's wings again grew bigger and slowly enveloped Houki. 'Ichika… I'm so sorry…'
…
"What?! A NEW I.S.?!" Maya Yamada screamed as she was looking at Ichika's I.S. identifier, "Majin!?" [Demon Queen] "And it is already in Second Shift stage?! 'Majin Naamah'!?" Maya couldn't settle down. "How's that even possible?!"
[A/N: Literary from kanji Majin could be translated as 'Demon-God', but there's no analogy in western folklore, so I decided to stick with the name 'The Demon Queen']
"Yamada-sensei, why are you screaming?" Chifuyu asked with her eyes closed, but her voice was as sharp and deep as ever, "I'm standing right beside you…"
"I… I'm sorry…" Fear of Chifuyu slightly cooled down Maya's passion.
Chifuyu sighed. Honestly, she knew as little as everyone else here about what happened to Ichika, and that was quite irritating. But one thing she knew for certain – Ichika's eyes. When he left, they were of the same, blood red color… 'Eyes of Kamael'… True form of his emperor's eyes… Comparing Eyes of Kamael to his normal emperor's eyes it is just like comparing a military-grade binocular to a simple magnifying glass… Those eyes can see even around solid objects, and much further into the future… But when he has eyes like this – he's completely unpredictable…'
…
"Agh, ugh...!" Houki's was suffocating as her throat got grabbed by the Silver Gospel, letting out painful moans as merciless machine was crushing her throat. The Gospel's hand continued to grab onto Houki's neck, and the Silver Bell that evolved into a full-energy mode covered Crimson Camellia completely.
'Is this the end... Damn, this is embarrassing...' The brightness of the wings of light increased. As the Gospel let out a countdown before firing, Houki only thought of something. 'I want to see him. I want to see Ichika. I want to see him immediately. I want to see him now. Ahh, ahh, I really want to see him…'
"I…chi…ka..." Unknowingly, she called out Ichika's name. Facing the wings that were becoming even brighter, Houki got mentally prepared and closed her eyes.
*CLANK!* Loud sound of metallic rasp. At the same time, the hand of the Gospel that was holding onto Houki, suddenly let go of her. As the puzzled Houki opened her eyes due to this sudden situation, she saw the Silver Gospel flying away from her, rolling head over heels in midair, just as if it was simply thrown away.
'Wha… What happened…' Still in a state of disbelief, Houki heard a voice that broke her thoughts.
"I hope you didn't wait for me too long, Kawaii Tenshi," Ichika's voice said as unknown, glowing white/dark-violet machine were floating slightly above Houki. ['Kawaii Tenshi' literally means 'cute little angel', when applied to military I.S. that sounds quite offensive, at least in Ichika's opinion].
Houki couldn't understand – what exactly she's seeing now. An I.S. Its torso is looking like a ribcage, with white metallic 'ribs' and energy field between them, though there's a thin black metallic layer beneath energy field to protect pilot's body from direct contact with that energy. I.S. legs also weren't solid, as metal was mixed with energy field, but legs overall design seemed quite familiar, just like… Kurazakura's legs, just with a bit more massive knees and boots were with flat sole. Also, two pair of small (about 1.5 feet long), dragonfly-like wings were attached to each knee's backside. Massive gloves, also outlined with dark violet energy fields, were looking more like claws than hands, as finger were more like talons. Helmet seemed just like a replica of Kurazakura's helmet, but instead of long pointed 'ears' it has three pairs of same dragonfly-like wings, 'growing' from 'temple area'. Finally, not three but five pairs dragonfly-like wings, all of equal length (about 8.5 feet), were attached to frame's back and shoulders.
All those wings of that I.S. – those on legs, on helmet, and big ones behind its back – all have the same design – a quite thin white metal part in the middle, and dark violet energy field above and below it. No doubts – all those energy fields on that frame – they all are Fold-Out Armor. But unlike Fold-Out Armor used by Messiah, which looked like white, half-transparent glass, this one was dark violet, non-transparent, and it was like burning with same-colored, dark violet flame.
'Demon Queen Naamah?!' With saucer-wide eyes Houki read the identifier of I.S. that was floating above her, 'Ichika?!'
"Come on, let us dance," Ignoring Houki, Ichika pointed at Silver Gospel with his sniper rifle.
…
And that's it for now. See you soon people!
