Disclaimer
I don't own the content in this fiction except for everything I invented and added to the story myself.
Reader Information:
Everything that happens in this story is based on the recently released movie. Every manga/series has been ignored as well as any information provided in them.
If you find any grammatically incorrect parts feel free to message me, improvements can always be made. Also, be aware that this series will contain blood/gore as well as actions that might be offensive towards ethnic minorities, gender identities and several other potentially sensitive topics. If you do not agree on this, do yourself a favor and don't read any further. Parental guidance is recommended for those at a certain age.
Author's Note
Wow, so this is my first story here. I will try to update it at least once every month, to provide some reading material for those that are interested in this story. If you enjoy reading this, please review, as that is something that really means a lot to the authors. No matter if it's critics or just general appreciation, every review is an unbelievable motivation to keep going on. ENJOY!
Huge credit to Cait the Bookworm for betareading and correcting.
Hey all together. It is me with some very important things to tell you. I am for the moment discontinuing this story. I just cant find the motivation to keep writing this story at the moment. I might be uploading some other stories but I am mainly betareading at the moment. I hope I can continue this story one day, but that day is sadly not today. Hopefully you guys can forgive me for that. Now here comes the last chapter...
Telón
"Nova is the dragon that must be slain."
The words of her long dead teacher echoed inside Alita's head as she slowly moved through her exercises. The dragon she was to slay was still alive. She thought that winning motorball would allow her to move on to Zalem and take out Nova. But instead he interfered at the last second, making sure that she would never make it up there.
Since that day, all her efforts had only lead to small achievements. Whenever she thought an opportunity had opened, Nova would cut it off, always a step ahead of her. Leaving the city appeared to be the first thing he hadn't been able to predict.
And now she was out here, many a hundred kilometers away from Zalem, and still she was accompanied by one of his former henchmen. It didn't suit her at all to travel together with an accomplice of that monster, even though he didn't work with him anymore. When he had told her the truth a few days ago, she had almost killed him. And still, he was alive right now, attentively watching her from a few meters away.
He sat atop of the bike they had gotten from the farmer's family. When they left their home two days ago, Abraham had given it to them, hoping it would help them to travel faster and safer. The machine seemed to have grown on Shenyen right away; he basically used all of his spare time to repair the vehicle. It looked similar to the monowheels in the Iron City, but this one had two wheels and the seat in between. Alita finished her exercise and walked over to him. He took the driver's seat and started the bike. Alita sat down on the shotgun seat just behind Shenyen, as the engine rumbled to life.
The bike made travelling through the solitude way easier. Underneath the tires, the desert just flew away, accompanied by the constant sounds of the engine. For hours they drove through the wasteland, away from the ocean, and further into the unknown.
It was past noon already when a giant pillar appeared in the horizon. At first Alita took it for a hallucination of some kind, but the closer they came, the more obvious it became. It wasn't a pillar- it was really one of the sky cities. This one had not survived the war many years ago, as it had crashed down, resulting in why it was now stuck halfway in the ground. For kilometers around the city was a crater, most likely caused by the force of the impact. The city reminded her a lot of Zalem, being similar in both structure and size. Only this one was completely destroyed, left in ruins.
The sight of this city felt known. She felt as if she had achieved a lifelong goal, seeing this city being torn into pieces. Had she maybe been here before? Had she been a part of this attack as well?
Shenyen stopped the bike, removing his safety glasses with the same movement: "Holy fucking shit!"
These words were the first thing either of them said since they left the farm. He had been as taciturn as usual and she was still too pissed off to try and start any conversation with him.
"I guess this is what you were searching for."
He grabbed his pack, pulled out some binoculars and held them up to his eyes. For a few seconds he stared through them, scanning the area surrounding the city.
"What? What do you see?"
Alita had issues keeping still on the bike all of a sudden. She wanted to explore this new city, and find out if there was something like the scrapyard here as well, maybe get to know the people here. He handed her the binoculars without a word. She took a look at the destruction all around her. At some places the remains of the city were still visible. Something must have stopped the fall of this city, otherwise everything around them would have been wiped out entirely.
"It's not very likely that there is anyone still alive in this dump."
His words fanned her worst fears. But he didn't have a spark of doubt within his voice.
"This is not going to be the place you are looking for. I'm quite sure there has never even been such a thing as the scrapyard here. Whatever lived underneath this city was destroyed when it fell. Just like all the others did. I just wonder why Zalem is still standing. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between them. Wait a second. You said you were a part of the attack on Zalem. Does that mean you were here as well?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"At least I can't remember being here before. But others like me could have been here that day."
He barely reacted, but just for a second, she thought she saw his hand moving towards his weapon.
"We should get closer. See if there is anything left in there."
"Wait what? Why would you even think of that? Everything in there has obviously been should move on, get some more distance done before nightfall. If we really go down there, we lose at least five hours."
"And? There is no schedule we need to keep track of, and I want to be sure there is no-one here before we leave. It could take us forever to find an opportunity like this again."
She expected him to object to her statement, but with his eyes towards the destroyed city, he shook his head, sighed and put his glasses back on. Alita took it as an acknowledgement. She held on to him as he restarted the bike and started to descend into the crater.
It took them almost an entire hour to get down to the borders of the city. Moving between the obstacles made it hard to go fast on the bike. Upon reaching the outer ring of the city, they decided to leave the bike and progress by foot.
Around them, destroyed buildings covered the ground. Being here felt lost and lonely. Surrounded by the huge buildings, they roamed around the devastated city for quite a while. She had almost lost her hope to find anything, but was surprised as his voice sounded through the streets.
"ALITA! You might want to look at this!"
Alita turned towards the voice and quickly found him, hunkered down over something on the ground. She got closer to get a look at what it was. It took her a second or two to realize what was lying in the dirt here, but when she did, it hit her like a sledgehammer.
Before them laid the body of a woman, however it was not a human body. Instead, it was a completely robotic girl, with a body made from metal and light purple muscle fiber. This was a berserker: just like her. The armor this cyborg had been wearing was torn apart, one arm missing completely. But most importantly, where her heart was supposed to be, was now a hole, gaping wide open. Alita stretched out her hand, removing some of the dirt off the body. When she wiped over her face, two silvery stripes became visible underneath the dead berserker's eyes.
"One day, you will all get the opportunity to earn these yourselves. Until then, I expect every one of you to train twice as hard. Especially you, Ninety-Nine."
The flash of memories surprised her as Alita stumbled back. This corpse belonged to someone she might have known once. An old friend, maybe even a member of her family. She tried to impress the face into her head, tried to remember, but there was still just a blank nothing.
"So she was just like you?"
His voice pulled her back into reality.
"Did you know her before... you know..."
"The fall?"
The young man nodded.
"I don't know. I knew someone who wore the same marks... "
"The marks of a Panzerkunst master."
Alita turned her head towards him.
"How do you know that?"
Shenyen just shrugged.
"I heard some stories. Anyways, you were saying?"
Suspicion crawled up on Alita. She was pretty sure he was not telling the truth. If only she could be sure whether or not he was worthy of her trust. It would make this so much easier for her.
"I just think that one of the people I remember- a soldier- wore these exact same marks. I just can't tell if that's her."
"That's got to be hard for you. To be the only one of your kind, without your memories, without family."
His voice had that well known empathy, the same one that usually made her feel safe. But right now she didn't need empathy. Alita was angry. So many people that he and his master had been the death-bringers of. And yet he dared to stand here and still breathe.
"I don't need your sympathy! I had a family and Nova took it from me! ALL OF THIS IS HIS FAULT! EVERY SINGLE DEATH DURING THE WAR AND EVERYONE WHO DIED AFTERWARDS! ALL OF IT BECAUSE OF THAT MONSTER! AND YOU! YOU HELPED HIM! YOU ARE JUST AS MAD AS HE IS! AND EVERY DAY YOU LIVE ON THIS WORLD IS A DAY THAT YOU SHOULD BE SPENDING NOWHERE BUT IN HELL!"
She started to regret her words right after she had said them. Of course it was not his fault. He was probably a good person. In contrast to all the other hunter warriors, he had been the only one that agreed to go with her into the unknown, even without a reward awaiting. And he stuck with her all this time. Not even her attempts to kill him had made him leave. She stared at him, waiting for a reaction. He slightly smiled but his eyes had turned emotionless. What had she been thinking?
"I'm sorry."
She started.
"I didn't mean to… "
"It's okay."
He lifted one hand in a stop gesture.
"Don't apologize to me. I know about the mistakes I made. And some day, I will have to make amends without any doubt. But that day is not today."
His voice was ice cold.
"And it is not on you to judge me."
She was able to see the truth in his statement. She hadn't been much of a better person either. But still, she was at least trying to do the right thing. Alita decided to change the subject before he would have any chance to think further.
"Why did you help him in the first place?"
Her question seemed to surprise him but he answered, having also seemed to have mostly forgotten about the last topic.
"Well, he offered me good payment. And working with him, I got access to so much more tech than anyone else could have offered me. I have never been able to study as much old age technology as I could during that time."
"Sounds to me as if you would like to go back to working with him."
Her inflection had a cold breeze to it, indicating the way she still judged him for his past.
"I considered it. After Grewishka fell, he was indeed looking for someone new to replace him. But I wasn't around at that time and by the time I came back into the city, he had already found someone else."
"So you weren't needed. Aren't you angry he just threw you away?"
"Of course I was. But what use would there be in wasting my time hunting someone that hurt me once. If I lived like that, I would have to be chasing after half the scrapyard. But I don't. And neither should you or anyone else."
Alita shook her head.
"I was built only to kill him. That is my entire purpose in this world after all."
He shrugged.
"I guess so, but… Don't you ever get tired of fighting? I'm sure somewhere inside you there is a human being, not just a machine?"
It was a statement but he enounced it so that it more like a question. He didn't seem sure about his statement.
The cyborg girl lowered her head, slightly closing her eyes and just kept silent for a few minutes straight.
As she finally spoke again, her voice was a little gloomy:
"There is a part of me that doesn't want to cause any more pain to others, doesn't want to see the endless suffering in this world. That side of me doesn't want to fight anymore. But whenever I had woken up, I had to see the people I love suffer from all the cruelty within the Iron City. And the ones responsible live far up in Zalem, without ever being held accountable for any of their crimes."
"So you fight to protect the ones you love? I remember the Doc but I can't possibly imagine you are chasing Nova all this time just because he threatens you and your family. To me, your hunt sounds like an act of revenge."
The second Shenyen said this, he knew from her reaction that his thinking had been right. She wanted to avenge someone by killing Nova. The memories flooded Alita's head as soon as she thought of him. A wonderful warm smile, his kind ways, even his flaws. He might have not been a perfect person but he had been perfect to her. She recalled the last time she had been together with him before he had left her alone forever. Grief and guilt had been lurking, waiting for her to lower her guard ever since she had locked her feelings away. After Hugo had fallen, she had conquered her grief by locking it away and instead letting her anger drive her.
Her father, Doctor Ido hadn't appreciated that change. He tried to talk her out of her plans many times and even refused to help her multiple times. And over the years, their relationship had deteriorated, becoming worse and worse.
"I can't help but wonder Alita: Who do you want to avenge?"
She looked up as he approached her, tears blurring her sight.
"His name was Hugo. He was the best person I ever met."
And without even really wanting to, she told him all about Hugo. The time she had spent with him, his dreams, her dreams, everything. Once the first words had left her mouth, it felt better the more she told him. And Shenyen... well he was the perfect audience. He neither disrupted her nor made comment. He was engrossed in every word she uttered.
"...and now, the one thing I want as much as for him and me to be reunited, is to slaughter the one responsible."
It felt as if a real burden had been taken off her shoulders. He now knew everything about her relationship with Hugo, her search for revenge and her urge to bathe all of Zalem in blood.
But would he judge her the way Ido did? Declare her desires to be bad for her and everyone else?
"Wow. Now I see why you want to kill Nova this badly. I'm sure one day you will succeed where everyone else failed. Remember just one thing: Only if you stay in command over your feelings, will you be able to succeed. Staying in control is not the same as keeping them away from you. If you can't keep the control over your feelings when you face him, he will have a way to use your feelings against you."
Alita was not sure if she understood what he was trying to say with that. But she knew she had to ask now.
"There is something I need to know."
She looked him right in the eyes as she asked him the one question that had been burning inside her ever since he told her his story.
"Can I really trust you?"
A short pause occurred before he started to speak:
"You know, before we left the Iron City…"
He was never supposed to end that sentence, as a loud growl filled the air around them. Shenyen was on his feet within a second, one weapon in each hand. Alita joined him, her sword at the ready.
The growl became louder as two vehicles appeared between the buildings, heading straight towards them. They were all heavily armored, with mounted weapons on their roofs and manned with multiple soldiers. Every one of them wore a bulky black armor, probably some kind of Kevlar. Black helmets featuring red tinted eyes covered their faces.
The trucks stopped, trapping the two in between them, multiple guns pointed at them. Without anyone giving commands the armed men swarmed out and quickly closed off all gaps. The soldiers moved with the precision and speed of a highly experienced unit. Silence returned to the battlefield as they stopped moving, waiting for whatever was next to happen.
As far as Alita could see, they were all humans. That meant they wouldn't be hard to beat. Heat flowed through her body as blue flames covered the sword in her hand. She couldn't see the expressions on their faces as it happened, but she noticed the commotion between them.
A manic smile appeared on her face as she imagined how this victory would taste when she had sliced through all of them. Her sight started to slowly blur as she simmered with excitement for this battle. Just when she didn't think she would be able to hold herself back anymore, Shenyen placed his hand on her shoulder.
It was a calming gesture, but his grip was firm. He pushed her hand downwards, further away from an attack stance and as her thoughts cleared out, her sword cooled down equally. His face showed warm understanding but he was clearly committed to not fight right now.
Another soldier exited one of the cars. This one was clearly a woman, wearing the same kind of armor, just slightly changed for a better fit. She didn't wear a helmet and a small pigtail of her platinum blonde hair fell over her shoulder. Her black eyes examined the two as she stepped closer; a rifle at the high port.
Her stance was firm, military and her entire appearance indicated her leadership role. Her voice made clear she demanded respect as she approached Shenyen.
"You. Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Shenyen noticed everything around him at once. His thoughts split up in two stories; one of them scanned over every soldier and weapon around them, trying to figure out every single option he had from this point on. The other part of his mind kept the conversation going, as to not cause any suspicion.
He slightly raised his palms in a surrendering gesture.
"My name is Shenyen and this here is Alita. We are travelers, we came from a city a long journey away from here."
Fifteen soldiers were around them, all armed with rifles. Medium caliber but hard to tell without a closer look. Plus the two armored cars. The guns on those would be quite the problem. High caliber without doubt. He was not willing to find out what they were capable of doing.
"We come from one of the floating cities, Zalem."
Alita added.
"We don't mean any of you harm, we are merely here to find a better place to live for others."
The woman looked at Alita with incomprehension, then back at Shenyen.
"Did that thing just address me?" Anger vibrated through her voice.
The sudden change of mind surprised him but he reacted appropriate right away.
"That thing"? Could it be possible cyborgs weren't appreciated here? For now Alita needs to stand down.
"I am truly sorry, sometimes she forgets her place here." At the same time he stared at Alita making sure she wouldn't say anything else. Once he was sure she had understood he turned back towards the woman.
"You better make sure something like that doesn't happen ever again. Others here aren't as forgiving as I am."
Noted. Cyborgs aren't liked here.
"Of course. But shouldn't we rather use our time to talk about more interesting things? You, for example."
He smiled at her in a way no woman could ever resist. He knew she had fallen for it the second she proudly puffed herself up.
That was easy. Maybe they wouldn't need to fight this time at all.
"I am the first commander of Telón's military and my name is Sapphire. It is my job to keep the city safe from the inside and outside likewise. At the moment you two are breaches in this safety and I will have to either take you with me or kill you both right here. Your decision."
"I'll gladly join you under just one circumstance: I want to ride with you."
God that sounded stupid. But it works.
Shenyen gave himself a quiet smile as she nodded happily.
The commander gave some quick orders and the soldiers packed up and moved back towards the vehicle. He held open a door for her then followed her into the ATV. He let Alita take a place on his left as the car started moving.
The way he talked to that woman was incredibly annoying. Alita was pissed. From the moment he shut her up, he had been flirting with her all along. She wasn't sure if he was serious or just trying to save them any more trouble. And now he was involved in an animated chat with Sapphire. Alita was pretty sure she already hated the woman.
The cars crossed through the remains quickly, taking a route around the main city plate. They then entered the shadow of the wreckage. For quite a while, they drove on until they were close to the center of it. Between the huge metal walls was a gateway, big enough for the cars to pass through.
A few soldiers stood inside, waved them through and closed the gate behind them. They went down the small passageway until it opened up into a huge cave.
There was an entire city inside this fallen place.
It appeared everything within this broken down place had been reused and re-purposed. A big market laid in front of them, and further in the back were houses and fields. The entire ceiling seemed to be a huge lamp, sending bright and warm light down onto everything.
And in between all of this, people roamed around, going after their daily business. None of them paid any attention to the ATV's as they passed through. Alita noticed the people outside all shared the same hair. There was no other color than platinum blonde around in this place. How was that possible? Some kind of genetic evolution? Or just a symbol of membership? Also, there didn't appear to be any cyborgs here. She couldn't spot a single augmented person between the citizens of this town. How intriguing.
The vehicles moved further through the crowd until they came up on a huge town hall. White marble pillars guarded the entrance as the three of them passed through, followed by almost a dozen soldiers. They walked further inside until they came up on a big wooden door. The commander stopped, told them to wait, and went inside. She came back after just a minute and commanded them to join her.
Behind the door was a small office. It was stylized with dark wood and enlightened by a big window which took an entire wall of space. Two big desks were placed inside the room, one of them was packed with papers and books while behind the other one, an elderly man was seated. His hair had the same blonde color even though there was not much left of it. He wore a completely black suit that complimented his tall physique. Dark eyes surveyed the two of them as he stood up from his chair.
The commander was the first one to take the word.
"You are now facing Sir Graham, first major of Telón."
As she walked past Shenyen she added.
"Don't ever piss him off."
And off she was. The two were now alone with the major. He let a few more minutes pass by just watching them before he finally spoke.
"Welcome. I have been waiting for a long time to meet the two of you. Welcome to the fallen city, Telón."