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To Love-Ru: The Fight for Love
Chapter 2.0
The Escape

Earth,
One Year Ago

If you had time traveled into his past. when he was a young, radical, free-thinker bent on overturning the oppressive government restrictions they taxed scientists with, and told him he was one day going to fail, he would have laughed. He wouldn't believe that he would get taken out with three other heavily armed, dangerous men, by the Princess of said government and get taken to jail to boot by some two-bit space police force. His past self would have laughed at the prospect, still full of himself after graduating his colleges with doctorates in organic chemistry, a minor in xeno-archeology, and a major grudge against an empire that wouldn't fund his experiments. A bright eyed youth with dreams of helping people regain lost limbs through organic transformation and enhancement of the body, and a minor in history of its use in ancient cultures, specifically the collective group now known by the misnomer 'Taoists'.

And yet here he was on a backwater mud-ball called Earth, specifically a Class-S planet that wasn't even on the galactic map as being fit for the space faring races, and he was being arrested with his fellow revolutionaries for kidnapping and endangerment of lives. This just after having met, and threatened, the woman whose joint projects in her heyday had been the basis his thesis in college had earned him his degree for. Keize was not having a good day especially after being beat up by a Princess, been near the universally known assassin Golden Darkness, and losing his most important work in the form of a pair of artificially created slime growths, now ending with him carted away to prison while labeled a terrorist.

So it was his greatest pleasure when they passed within the seventh planet's weak gravitational field he was able to expel the last few bits of slime in his pocket protector without much notice. This allowed him time to drop the masses onto the handcuffs and force them to break by allowing them expand within the cuffs internal structure. Unfortunately his compatriots knew too much, and should their boss deem them salvageable components to their organization, they would rat him out as being an incompetent leader to save their own hides. That would be despite the fact he had been the last one standing, after almost achieving victory in bringing Ryouko Mikado back with them.

Three agonizingly painful minutes later of having separated and dispersed his rapidly growing slime to ensure his 'companions' would not survive long enough to give anything up about their organization; Keize quickly stole away on an escape pod, leaving his slime to wreck havoc on the Galactic Police ship with the hopes they would not return to report anything amiss. It was then a painstakingly boring three hour trip by remarkably inefficient maneuvering thrusters, back to Earth and the ship they had hid within the remarkably dense aokigahara forest.

Having successfully made it back to Earth, undetected he might add. by the Devilukean ship in orbit, he had made landfall and returned to his ship by early morning. The trek was dangerous, and quite disorienting to someone who had never been there before, but thankfully some tech was salvageable from the escape pod that made it easier to find his ship and return to its hiding place. Stumbling into his ship, tired and frankly pissed off at having been forced to do what he did, he found the communication controls and attempted to contact his boss in their mobile star base. "This is Keize to Solgam Headquarters, I repeat, this is Keize trying to contact the Boss," he relays into the ship, waiting for the real time communication to go out and establish a connection through its hidden frequency band, "Boss, this is Keize, reporting in from Earth; I have urgent news regarding the acquisition of your former chief scientist turned traitor, Ryouko Mikado." A hissing static filled his ship's view screen, before the signal was accepted and the darkened interior of Solgam's headquarters became visible in the dim light.

"I expect good news, hmmm, Keize?" the gruff and tired voice of his Boss replies, having personally answered the communication, "Is Doctor Mikado on her way to return to Solgam, to ensure her methods of Bio Engineering are utilized properly?" Keize bit his tongue, trying to not show his frustration to the man, yet it seemed that he could already smell the failure coming off of him through the screen. "No...? A pity," The man states, before his finger goes to hover over a button that would cut all communication to the ship and activate remote termination, "I thought you had promise, Keize, if you failed in retrieving her then there is no point in wasting resources now that she is aware of our..." His finger hovers dangerously over the button, his one good eye sadistically staring down Keize to drink in the look of defeat and the fear in his subordinates eyes.

"Wait!" Keize suddenly shouted out, causing his Boss to hesitate, a remarkable feat in and of itself, "I think... I think I know of another..." His Boss pulled his hand away from the control, giving time for Keize to wrack his memories for a name, for anything that could spare him instant death, after having escaped his capture and granting his comrades an ironically merciful end compared to termination. His eyes light up, as he thinks back to the studies and late nights reviewing his upperclassmen's published papers, and his thoughts drift to the other name oft associated with Ryouko Mikado. "I know of another, a man who worked with Doctor Mikado in the same field," Keize states, panting in fear and adrenaline as he looks up to meet his Boss' eyes, "His name... his name was..." His boss's eyes widened in surprise as Keize states the name, before a wicked smile grows on his lips.

"Very good Keize, it seems you've staved death off for now," his Boss replied, "Return to the coordinates we will provide you for reassignment." He folds his hands and looks down upon the whimpering Keize. "Seeing as you have failed me once already, you will prepare to retrieve our friend personally," the Boss orders, "Even if it means you sacrifice your life to do so." Keize gulps, but nods in response, as communication is suddenly cut off to be replaced by galactic coordinates he is to rendezvous at with the main headquarters.

OoOoOoOoO

Deviluke,
The Black Archive
Days After Rito Fell into a Coma

To say one year ago, that Keize would be assaulting one of the most heavily fortified prisons in this or any other galaxy, to prove his worth to his Boss all to break out one inmate, he would believe you. Having discovered the location of their target at the heart of their sworn enemies home world, it became clear that an assault would be all but impossible without subterfuge and trickery, along with a years worth of careful planning to make this possible. Three weeks ago this wouldn't have been possible, but interesting developments regarding the state of Deviluke's future made it possible to send an unseen double agent into the Castle's service staff, having taken advantage of the chaos surrounding the Princess' engagement to Lacospo. It made it even easier for their spy to do his job and slip away unnoticed by all but the best, of whom promptly caught and ended him just after he had sent the necessary data that allowed Solgam to back Lacospo with this information, allowing them to utilize him as a distraction. Now Keize was in orbit of the planet in a merchant ship, along with a few dozen of his comrades in arms, dressed to the nines in assault gear and weaponry capable of taking down a Devilukean, preparing to take their arms to the ground. Figuratively speaking, of course, as they had managed to read the dimensional frequency of the pocket of reality that composed the prison, and managed to splice their own coding to create a backdoor capable of letting them enter undetected to take their prize by force, in the very heart of the facility.

"Now, you mangy dogs, you've all been proven failures in one form or another," the head of the assault says from his place above them all, "The Boss has graciously given you all the opportunity to win back your lives, prove yourselves to Solgam as being worth the resources you lost, and face down death to retrieve the target for our purposes." The soliders all nod, readying themselves for the mass transport which would be happening soon. "I've been told to inform you that not many of you will be probably making it back alive to this place, word is that after the events surrounding the failed coup by an insurgent known only by the moniker 'Creed', which ended with the Devilukean General Zastin hospitalized, that security had been increased as of two months ago," the commander states to his troops, "While the Black Archives are not officially recognized, let alone sanctioned by any known government outside of Deviluke, we don't quite know if they've increased numbers there as well."

He nods to the others, then brings up a device in his hand. "That's why along with your weapons, you've been provided with Solgam's latest analytic device, capable of breaking codes and passwords that have said to been secured systems," he states, "These will fool anything from key pads to a physical lock, they even bypass most vocal and retinal scanners with time, so survive long enough to utilize them, and you may just get out of their alive."

Keize sneered at that remark, thankfully obscured by the opaque mask of his helmet, as he watched the men march onto the relocation pad, walking into their deaths willingly. Unlike the others who would be laying siege to the prison, Keize knew that the real assault would begin with the final group, who would be transported into the heart of the facility while leaving the remaining groups as decoys to keep suspicion off of their true target. As he ascended to the relocation pad with the final group, he checked his secret weapon and assured himself that it was secure for when he needed it.

Transporting across dimensions was disorienting, but the group safely arrived at their intended destination, allowing Keize to smile upon the door and the name of the man who would make allow him to be back in the Boss' good grace. He turns to the others around him, who are starting to set up a defense perimeter, he brings out the device and presses its adhesive side over the lock, and lets it do the work for him. In a matter of seconds he can hear the sizzle of an air seal decompressing, as the door begins to open. Hearing the sound of explosions and gunfire coming closer, Keize dares to look back and see the unfortunate souls who were setting themselves up to die for a cause they believe in. Not wanting to let them down, he pulls of the grenade from his belt and smiles at the still sealed container, before pulling the pin and tossing it over to the door where his companions where set up. Hearing the clanging of metal, as the grenade bounces just in front of them, some look down at the grenade, while others look back at Keize to start to say something.

Unfortunately the resulting concussive blast that acts as a medium for delivery, activates before any words can be exchanged, splattering all of the men and the door in a coat of gelatinous substance that barely reaches back towards Keize. He takes this opportunity to walk into the targets room and seal the door behind him. Keize hears the satisfying screams and cracking of bones ring in his ears as his latest creation is fed by cannon fodder, before the door's pressure seals activate and cut them off. His gelatinous monster would coalesce now, with enough raw material to put room between him and the guards once they realized whom they were after.

He looks upon the form of the man sitting in the corner of the room, dirty and disheveled with writings on the wall and floor around him that to the untrained eye were mere scribbles, though revealed to be intense calculations and things leagues beyond Keize's own knowledge as a scientist. Unfortunately the metallic tang and stink of filth ruins the beauty, as he realizes it was all written in blood, by the look of his target's hands. "Hello there, Doctor," Keize states to the scruffy looking, bearded man in a tattered lab coat, "Solgam is in need of your work; Eden may have fallen and the Devil's revel in the ashes of our paradise, but we need your brilliance if we're to ever manage to restore the universe to its proper order." The man then looks up at Keize in fear, surprising the scientist turned solider.

"No, no, not yet, not yet!" the shell of a scientist states, backing away as Keize sees and recognizes the empty eyes of the living corpse staring up at him, giving even him a shiver of fear, "He's missing, I haven't found it yet, you can't take me now!" The man once known as the Doctor, the most feared man in two galaxies was, as Keize found him to be, missing more than a couple of screws loose. Yet he could work with that. Keize wasted no timing grabbing the man and taking pictures of the scrawling on the walls, before beginning the extraction protocols that would allow them to go back to the safety of their ship.

He would deliver to his Boss, or Keize would be no better than the evil men he had used as stepping stones to get to this place in the universe. The galaxy, no King Deviluke himself, would come to know they were no longer safe with one half of the most feared collective genius in the universe was restored. The Boss,and Solgam's, power and influence would grow unchecked once more, and a new paradise would grow upon the carcass of a choked out empire; one that would turn in on itself once the balance of power was restored to the universe.

OoOoOoOoO

Outside the Black Archives, a dozen soldiers fought back against a three meter tall mass of gelatinous goo, headed up by a heavily bruised, young-adult looking Gid Lucieon Deviluke. The King had shaved a few years off of his age in his battle with Creed, though not enough to diminish his ability to lead his people into battle. Finding what he was looking for as his people fired upon the mass with their weapons, it reached its tentacles out blindly flailing like massive flagellum, grabbing at anything in its reach. King Gid quickly discerned from a subtle discoloration and the constant shifting the cellular blob was making around a certain area, that the nucleus controlling it was at its center, and with that he had exactly what he needed.

Making a stand, as his men picked off its tentacles before they could touch him, he readied his body and tightened his core like a spring storing energy. In a sudden burst of speed that took his men by surprise, the king had ripped through the massive blob with his bare hands, leaving a wake of slime that quickly tried to mend itself back together. Unfortunately the king held his prize in his hands, lifting up the grossly disproportionate nucleus that was its brain. With a quick and crushing reflex, a runny purple liquid oozes from between his fingers, and the gelatinous mound quickly destabilizes into a messy pile of blue goo. The king of Deviluke shakes the gunk off of his hands, as a young lieutenant approaches him with urgency.

"Sir, reports are coming in from the rest of the facility!" he states after Gid acknowledges him, "The attackers attempted to release sections AA through FF, riots have been contained so far as most of the non-combatants stayed put, some hostage situations are still being resolved with some of the more desperate attackers, but casualties should remain minimal, or result in minor injury at the very least..." He trails off, as Gid turns his attention to the door leading into the room beyond it, where men begin cutting through the sealed off door with highly specialized equipment. "Uh, I'm afraid that we did detect two signatures slicing through the dimensional barrier," the young man reports, as Gid turns his head to stare through him silently, sending a shiver down the man's spine, "W-we did manage to discover where and h-how they had sliced their way into the facility, it appears to have been a Khameleon Worm we hadn't detected when we were infiltrated, but our anti-viral systems have been reactivated and cutoff any chance of escape for the remainder of the intruders." Gid sighs, as the young man finishes his reports, and the Devilukean solider stiffens as the King brings a hand to his forehead to rub it in frustration.

"It doesn't matter, most of these intruders are mercenaries at worst, or plain idiots at best, neither are useful since it was more than likely only one or fewer of our 'intruders' were actually aware of who or what they were after," Gid states, as he turns to observe the last of the door being cut away by his men, "The others were just distractions meant to pull our attention away from their real target, and if the dead bodies that made up that giant slime monster weren't dead giveaways, they were willing to sacrifice everything to get him out of here..." The young lieutenant cocks his head in confusion at that, until he reads the half scorched title on the doorway, letting his blood run cold as he realizes who and what was behind that door.

"Sir, you can't be serious," the young Devilukean states, as he stares beyond the now open doorway, "Letting him loose upon the galaxy is tantamount to ensuring another Great War is set aflame across the universe." Gid nods, as he walks over to the jagged hole cut through the door, stepping into the dimly lit room to observe what lay inside. Notes and calculations writ in blood, a terrible smell, and poor lighting didn't leave much of a great impression as to who once lived there, but Gid Lucieon Deviluke was not one to let appearances fool him to the otherwise. Gid walked over to the bed, the one clean spot among an utterly desecrated room, and kicked it up onto its side with one deft stroke. What was beneath it surprised him greatly, more so than he had thought it would, but he quickly ripped the picture from its place pinned beneath the bed among at least a dozen others and turned to the young lieutenant.

"I want you to take pictures of all of this, tear the room apart, then compile a report and give me it as soon as possible," Gid informs him, before turning to the others, "Go quell the rest of the rioters, then figure out who was in contact with the Doctor last; I want to know who smuggled this into what is supposed to be a highly impenetrable facility.." The others men in the room nod and disperse, while the lieutenant grabs another solider to help him. King Gid looks at the picture in his hand, crushes it, and swiftly takes his leave to send word to Earth, to his soon to be son-in-law. As he leaves the crumpled up photo behind him, the face of Rito Yuuki in an innocuous photo of him shopping with Nana and the one Trans-Weapon called Mea is shown. Though his son-in-law's face is circled in red ink, while the others are crossed out with X's. It seemed the Doctor took an interest in him, and that would not mean anything good for the human, nor for the Earth.

A/N: Welcome once more to the Fight for Love! Here is the actual second chapter, slightly revised and not full of (plot)holes like my original April 1st version. Strangely enough the first chapter was edited 4/2, but it didn't reflect on the story itself, so if you haven't checked out my revised chapter on, well, I don't know where you've been for the past six days, so there's that...

Oooh, does the Doctor have an obsession? Is Keize a murderer? Who really is the mysterious 'Boss' of Solgam, and what are his intentions releasing chaos back into the galaxy? Will I stop asking questions? Never!

Remember to favorite, follow, and/or review, as it helps my creative process. (I'll be honest guys, reviews help get my brain's juices flowing and I'm kind of stuck on Chapter 3, so a little encouragement would help but be honest, really, I take it in stride.)

Adieu, my readers from 17 different countries, until I post again!