Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron
Chapter 8: The Kissing
"Attention all parasites, contact will occur at 0230 hours. Please make your way to the hanger. This message will now repeat." They heard over the loudspeaker.
"There are so many…" Nana said in awe as she looked at the absolutely massive horde of Klaxosaurs.
"They will be fine." Hachi said. "They have Reaper 1 with them plus Strelitiza with them. That huge thing, however, could be a Klaxosaur as well. But I have never seen one like it before. This will be an extreme test for them."
…
With the parasites, each was doing their own thing in order to prepare themselves for the battle. Ichigo was in the shower trying to get her mind of Hiro and what might happen. Hiro and Goro were in their room, Goro was trying a last-ditch attempt to get Hiro not to pilot. Kokoro, Ikuno and Miku were discussing the likelihood that they would come back in one piece. Zorome and Futoshi were off who knows where. And Reaper and his squads were pouring over the feeds, after hacking in of course, showing the number of Klaxosaurs and discussing tactics.
"We need to keep them at long range for as long as possible. We cannot let them get near the pipe." Reaper told his squad, his and their faces set in stone. They would not have a repeat of before.
…
"Given the differences in numbers, we can't afford to be too optimistic." Mitsuru said as the boys were walking down the hall toward the hanger.
"Hey, don't go wimping out on us now. We've got me, Zorome the Great, on our side." Zorome said.
"Zorome aside, we also have Strelitiza with us as well as Reaper 1 to assist us as well." Futoshi said.
"Anyway, we are not going to let Squad 26 hog all the glory." Zorome said.
"That's not who you should be fighting." Mitsuru said.
As they caught up with the girls, Reaper watched as Hiro and Ichigo talked. She seemed to need a bit of a pep talk and Hiro was the one to give it to her. As Hiro and Ichigo joined up with the group he saw that she still had a worried look on her face. Reaper decided to give her some reassurement.
"Ichigo." Reaper said, putting a hand on her shoulder stopping her. "Focus on your end. We will keep her out of the battle as long as possible, and deal with any issues when the time comes. Zero Two does have some compassion in her. They will be fine."
"It's hard not to worry about it, Reaper. I don't want to know what it feels like to lose a squad member." Ichigo said before walking away.
"You won't Ichigo, you won't" He said.
…
"Open force gate. Open force gate. Lift carrier, proceed slowly at zero point five. Numbers Two through Five are to deploy in the gamma quartet formation. I repeat: deploy in gamma quartet formation. All FranXX good to go. Target Beta's alt mode yet unconfirmed. Clear weather. Temperature is 72.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Amending enemy's approach route. Estimated point of contact unchanged. Wind blowing from the Northeast at 181 miles per hour. All safety systems green.
"We have updated intel on the Klaxosaurs. Aside from the Conrad class pack, we have detected several Moho class as well as a large, tightly packed unit. It doesn't match anything we have on record, but we have determined it to be a Klaxosaur due to its independent movement and code named it Target Beta." Hachi said.
"It's huge!" Someone from Squad 13 said.
If one were to look at Black Rose near the pipe, one would see the scowl that she had on her face.
"That thing is going to be tough to kill. There is no visible weak spot that we can penetrate it at to get to the core." Black Rose said.
"Since we lack data, attacking it would be reckless. As such, prioritize attacking and clearing the horde when you engage. 090 will have field command." Hachi said.
"Understood." 090 said.
"It is time. All FranXX, commence operation. Strelitiza, Reaper 1, stand by where you are." Hachi said.
"Roger!" everyone said.
"Squad 26, let's go." 090 said.
…
After several minutes, they saw several explosions in the distance. Reaper then made the comment,
"They are going to get themselves killed. They rely too much on teamwork tactics and lots are going to get past.
True to his word after a few more minutes of fighting, more of the horde slipped past Squad 26 and headed toward Squad 13.
"13, you're up." 090 said. "But be careful not to stray too far ahead. If you move about haphazardly, you could screw up our coordination as well."
"If you think we are a hindrance, come out and say it!" Zorome said.
"I never thought that we would be seen as such a big liability." Goro said.
"It's the truth, we're green as hell." Mitsuru said.
"You may be green, but you are no pushovers. I highly doubt that they have faced a Gaia class and won." Reaper said. "Now, get out there and show them what you can do."
All of squad 13 nodded their heads and began to attack. After another 10 minutes the bulk of the horde had passed the first line of defense and were rapidly approaching the second. Looking at the kill count, Squad 13 was rapidly overcoming Squad 26's kills. The difference between the two teams was very apparent. 26 relied solely on teamwork tactics, working as a group to take down one Klaxosaur. While this was efficient in killing the Klaxosaurs, it allowed a lot to get past. Whereas Squad 13 worked both alone and together, this lead to not all the Klaxosaurs getting killed in one encounter, but any damage done helped later. But even they were being overwhelmed, and it was time for Reaper 1 to get in on the action.
"Reaper 1 you're up. Move to just behind squad 13. Do not let them get near the pipe." Hachi said.
"Negative, we can handle this from here." Reaper said.
"What are you…" Hachi started to say before his jaw dropped.
…
"Alright everyone, we have our orders, kill them all and keep them at range for as long as possible." Reaper said.
Lotus then jumped up and landed on the pipe next to Strelitiza. She then summoned their chosen weapon for range, a sniper rifle. In particular, this was a Shadow Corp Mk V Deadshot 56 Heavy Sniper Rifle. The Deadshot fires a 5.56-meter round that can kill a Klaxosaur at a distance of up to 10 miles. Digitalis braced herself and summoned their chosen weapon, a minigun. The weapon was a Shadow Corp MRX587 minigun, with a spin up time of two seconds. It fires 7.62-meter Shadowfire, armor piercing, incendiary round at an impressive 10,000 rounds a minute. Black Rose was dual-wielding the Shadow Corp S56R2 Shadow Rifle. Firing balls of compressed shadow energy, when it strikes it detonates with the strength of a small hydrogen bomb.
"Lotus, your priority will be the Moho class Klaxosaurs. Digitalis, you and I will kill any that make it past Squad 13 and well as provide covering fire for them." Reaper said.
"Yes sir!" They replied.
"Good, then pick your targets and fire at will." Reaper said and turned to the horde and began to fire.
Digitalis's weapon spun up and she began to unload on the Klaxosaurs, Black Rose was not far behind them. Every now and then they could hear the crack of the Deadshot and watched as another Moho class fell. They were soon killing the Klaxosaurs by the hundreds. The best part of the Shadow Corp weapons was that they did not have to reload, and they had infinite ammo as it was all based on shadow energy.
Delphinium had just killed another Klaxosaur when a storm of bullets flew past on her right and obliterated the Klaxosaur that was attempting to sneak up on her. As she turned around to thank Chlorophytum, she realized that it was not her who killed the Klaxosaur but Digitalis from Reaper 1. Her jaw dropped as she beheld the weapons in their hands.
"Where the hell did you get those weapons?!" Delphinium shouted.
"Special weapons division of Shadow Corp from our time!" Black Rose shouted back as she obliterated a group to the left of Genista and to the right of Argentea. She had an evil grin on her face. Chlorophytum was having trouble with a Moho class, as it was about to land a strike, a *crack* was heard and the Moho class dropped dead.
"What?!" Mitsuru said before turning to look behind him and seeing that Lotus had fired the shot. He let out a "Grrr" of frustration before going back to kill more.
"13! Fall back a bit! You're in danger of being surrounded!" Crow said from atop the pipe.
They look around and saw that he was right and fell back a bit before continuing.
…
Up with Squad 26, they had managed to catch a quick break and looked back toward Squad 13 and Reaper 1. They could see hundreds of explosions in the distance.
"Code 015, huh. What's such a skilled teen code doing with a makeshift test team? They even have Code 016. Not to mention R-01 and his squad, they haven't even engaged the enemy at close range and they are still showing more skill than we are. Why are they tied to Squad 13 instead of working directly under Papa or with the 9's?" 090 said.
…
A little while later, 13 had been pushed back even farther in the face of the horde and Reaper had to make the decision.
"Reaper 1, keeping the Klaxosaurs at long range is no longer attainable." Reaper said as Black Rose banished the shadow rifle and summoned Nightmare. "I hereby authorize permission for release and order the squad to switch to close range weapons. It's time to show them why we are called Reapers."
As each FranXX summoned their scythes, they all glowed a dark red, their blades gleaming menacingly. As Reaper 1 was about to advance they saw a line of Klaxosaurs suddenly get torn to shreds. They looked at each other before looking behind them and saw that Strelitiza was no longer on the pipe.
"Strelitiza is here!" Argentea said as she roared past her killing another line of Klaxosaurs.
"What are you doing out here? Don't ignore orders!" 090 said.
"I'm just helping my squad!" Hiro shouted back.
Delphinium then jumped into the argument.
"Go back Strelitiza! We've got this!" She said.
"We are just trying to help!" Hiro retorted.
As the two continued to argue Reaper decided to try a different tactic. He blocked all comms to Strelitiza and opened a direct link to her bypassing going through plantation control.
"Strelitiza, what are you doing? Why are you wasting your energy on these small fries?" Reaper said.
Strelitiza looked at him confused.
"Your energy could be better used when we have to take on that big cube. These small fries provide no challenge, so if you spend all of your energy now, when the killing blow on the big guy is needed you won't have it."
Strelitiza had a thoughtful look on her face before huffing and turning and going back to the pipe. Delphinium's voice suddenly filled the cockpit.
"What the hell Reaper?! Why did you cut me off?!" She said.
"There are better ways to convince someone then arguing with them." Reaper said.
Another wave of Klaxosaurs were approaching.
"Grrr. We are not done with this conversation." She said before dashing off.
Black Rose shook her head before preparing to face the horde of Klaxosaurs again.
…
After another half an hour, most of the horde was dead. Bodies were scattered everywhere, Reaper and his squad were standing on large mounds of Klaxosaur corpses, their FranXX were covered in blue blood. Squad 26 and 13 were gaping at them.
"Well, that was fun." Black Rose said, and Lotus agreed.
"What was the kill count Reaper?" Snake said.
"For us it was 2,846, for Lotus it was 2,687 and for Digitalis it was 2,543." He said.
"Damn it! I could of swore I had more. Reaper did you count the Moho class as two?" Digitalis said, pouting.
"Nope." Reaper replied.
"Better luck next time, you two." Lotus said with a laugh.
"With the horde dealt with, we will now attack Target Beta, be careful." Hachi said.
"How exactly is it going to attack? It doesn't have any limbs." Delphinium said.
Squad 26 wrapped it in their signature electric harpoons and triggered them. The Target then roared and stopped moving.
"Good, it's working." 090 said.
They then triggered their electric harpoons again and they have it a bigger shock. The Klaxosaur let out a shriek that caused everyone to cover their ears.
"No." Reaper breathed "It can't be."
To everyone's horror, the Klaxosaur began to unpack itself, breaking the harpoon wires before throwing its arms out and getting to its feet. It then roared and slammed its hands into the ground. The Klaxosaur had a humanoid form and was easily as tall as the plantations.
"A-A humanoid form!?" 090 said.
"This can't be happening!" someone else from Squad 26 said.
"A Gutenberg class?!" Nana said in shock.
"This is bad news." Hachi said.
"YOU!" Reaper roared, and Black Rose's face was set in fury.
The Gutenberg class took a step forward and 090 shouted,
"You're not getting any closer! All units, we are trying again."
They shot their harpoons into the Klaxosaur's arm but before they could electrocute it, the Klaxosaur flicked it arm throwing Squad 26 into the ground.
"Crap! All units fall back." 090 said. He clicked his triggers but his FranXX was out of fuel. He saw the foot of the Klaxosaur approaching him and he closed his eyes and waited for the final blow. It never came. When 090 opened his eyes, he saw that Lotus had grabbed him and was hauling him back.
"Get your head out of your ass!" Crow said harshly. He set him on the ground before rocketing off after the Gutenberg class.
"Thank you." 090 whispered.
"All Squad 26 units fall back. Squad 13 and Reaper 1 will deal with the Gutenberg." Hachi said.
"Easier said than done." Delphinium
"With pleasure!" Reaper said, as Black Rose flicked her hood over her head, causing the rampage mask to descend.
…
"Reaper? Owl? Damn it!" Crow said as he rocketed after Black Rose, Lotus following.
"Crow? What is happening to Reaper and Owl?" Genista asked.
"They have lost themselves to their rage! Just stay out of their way, they will calm down in a few minutes." Lotus replied.
"How do we stop this thing?" Argentea asked as she chased after the Klaxosaur.
"Stopping it would be pointless, you need to kill it, or it will breach the pipe." Mitsuru said.
"We will distract it while those two are in a rage. Get Strelitiza ready to hit the core. Her spear is the only thing we have at the moment that will be able to reach the core." Crow said.
"Got it." Hiro said.
"Don't push yourself." Crow said as he brought up Hiro's vitals.
Black Rose was going nuts on the Gutenberg class. They had already scaled up its legs and were making their way up to its chest, hacking and slashing along the way causing damage to the Klaxosaur.
"That's not a bad idea. Everyone climb up its legs and attack it. Make it fall backward, that should give Strelitiza her opportunity." Snake said.
Squad 13 started climbing the Klaxosaur's legs helping each other up.
"Ready? NOW!" Lotus said as she struck at its legs the others following suit. The Klaxosaur fell to its knees then toppled backward. Knocking Black Rose off and slamming her into the ground, the battle mask ascended off her face as the hood fell back.
As Lotus and Digitalis checked on Black Rose they saw a light falling from the sky, they soon realized it was Strelitiza falling from on high, spear aimed to stab into the Klaxosaur's chest.
"I'm gonna finish this in one blow!" Hiro said as they neared the Gutenberg.
As they slammed into the Klaxosaur it bucked a bit.
"Get in there!" Hiro shouted as the spear slowly penetrated the Klaxosaur. He then activated the magma energy within the spear and the Klaxosaur then bucked into the air before collapsing.
"We did it." Hiro said before his vitals plummeted.
To everyone's horror the Klaxosaur then began to get back up. The Gutenberg slammed a fist into Strelitiza knocking her back toward the main pipe. The Klaxosaur then began to transform into a large fist on a sliding ramp with boosters on the back. It aimed for Strelitiza before sliding back and activating its boosters.
"Hiro get out of there!" Delphinium shouted but Strelitiza did not move.
"Ichigo, he's gone." Lotus said,
"NO!" she screamed before the fist slammed into the ground sending Strelitiza flying into the main pipe. When the dust cleared Strelitiza sparkled gold before shifting into its rampage mode.
"The link between Code 002 and Code 016 has been broken." Hachi said.
"No!" Nana said.
"We had to run out of time now?" Hachi said.
Strelitiza then pulled herself out of the wall and snarled at the Klaxosaur.
"Zero Two, no!" Crow said, but it was futile as she launched herself at it.
Black Rose then got off the ground holding her head.
"You good?" Snake asked.
"Yeah." Black Rose replied giving her head one final shake before taking stock of the situation. Reaper let out a growl before launching them at Strelitiza and knocking her off course.
"You guys distract that thing. Draw it away from the pipe." Reaper said as he knocked Strelitiza aside again. "And we will disable Strelitiza."
"Roger" Squad 13 said.
Black Rose then turned and dodged an attack from Strelitiza, causing Strelitiza land on her back but she quickly rolled over and growled at Black Rose.
"She is in a state of rage, non-lethal hits only, we don't want to extremely injure or kill her." Reaper said looking at Strelitiza with pity. He knew, better than most, what it was like to be in the state she is in.
Strelitiza spent the few minutes lunging at each of Reaper 1 trying in vain to hit at least one of them.
"Pin her. We need to force her out of the controls." Reaper said.
Strelitiza then lunged at Black Rose again and Reaper knocked her aside again. As he did so he planted the blades of their scythe around her neck, Lotus and Digitalis gently buried the tips of theirs into her legs, preventing her from getting up.
"Zero Two, exit the controls of Strelitiza immediately or I will be forced to do it myself." Reaper said.
She struggled for a few moments trying to find a way out, before the faceplate went blank and she stopped moving. Reaper knew what was going to come next, but he still winced when he heard Zero Two's wailing cries as she beheld Hiro's body.
"Damn it! This wasn't supposed to happen!" Reaper thought as he turned back toward Squad 13 who were having trouble with the Gutenberg class.
…
A cold wind suddenly blew through their cockpits, which wasn't possible as they did not circulate air from the outside, and then reality seemed to slow down. Suddenly, the communicators on their wrists crackled to life.
"Hello Reaper Alpha." A deep, smooth voice said.
"Master?!" Reaper said in shock.
"Ah Reaper, so good to hear your voice after so many decades. You know, at first when you disappeared, I had assumed the worst, but when your souls did not return to me, I had to assume something else had happened." The voice said.
Reaper set his mouth in a line. He then opened his mouth to take the fall for his squad. "Master, I…"
"Silence, Reaper." The voice said, and Reaper shut up and waited to see what he would say.
The voice was quiet for a moment before he spoke.
"I do not blame you for the actions you decided to take Reaper. You needed time to grieve, both of you did," Black Rose looked down saddened, "time you were not given. You carried on for five years on a path of self-destruction and self-loathing because you were unable to grieve. So, no Reaper, I do not blame you for choosing to do what you did. Now, however, time has passed, and you seem to be recovered. You have made some new allies, and gotten some new tech, tech I did not make. This is fine, and since Shadow Corp is no longer around, I will personally have to make some, ah, modifications to the machines you are piloting."
"Understood Master." Crow said.
"Master," Reaper said, his face darkening. "We need to talk about what humanity has done. Humanity have achieved immortality and are playing god."
"What?" The voice said, its tone darkening.
"By mixing magma energy and several other things they have created an elixir that prevents them from aging, making them immortal. They are no longer able to have children, so they are vat growing children and modifying them as they see fit."
The temperature within the cockpits plummeted.
"That. Is. Unacceptable." The voice said, full of fury. "Humanity will have its reckoning for this. No one may defy the Natural Laws and get away with it. No one."
The temperature rose once more as the voice paused.
"Reaper, your current allies, have they been given the elixir as well?" The voice asked.
"No." Raven replied. "For some reason, the FranXX need fertile pilots."
"Interesting." The voice said.
"On to your current predicament, it seems that history is trying to repeat itself. As you know I abhor such things, as such…" The voice took a deep breath before continuing.
"Reaper Alpha, I have orders for you." Reaper and his squad immediately jerked to attention.
The Gutenberg class suddenly gained a shadow aura around it.
"The Klaxosaur you see before you, is a class 2 high value target. Due to its shape shifting abilities and regeneration, I am authorizing a partial Limiter removal, not to exceed more than 50 percent of max power. Oh, and Reaper, Owl? Its Him." The voice said.
Reaper Alpha's faces settled into looks of fury. They knew what that meant. The Klaxosaur in front of them was the same one that caused their mission to fail so many years ago. It was time for revenge.
"I thought so." Reaper muttered.
"I want it dead Reaper, and I don't care how you do it." The voice said in cold fury.
"Understood, Lord Death. You will be receiving its soul shortly." Reaper replied.
"Good. Death out." He said, and reality speed back up to normal.
…
"Squad 13," Reaper said over the comms, "fall back to my position and check on Hiro, we will deal that that bastard."
"Reaper Alpha, we are getting out." Reaper growled as he and Owl disconnected from the console.
Each of Reaper Alpha's FranXX shut down as their faceplates opened allowing Reaper and his squad to exit and jump to the ground.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Ichigo shouted as they approached.
"Killing this damn thing." Reaper said back.
"All Reaper Alpha members, partial Limiter removal has been authorized. Setting power cap to 50 percent." Reaper said as the Limiters were removed.
Everyone watched in awe and horror at what happened next. First, they gained an aura of death and despair, which made anyone who looked at them shudder in fear. Their scythes then appeared on their backs unbidden, all glowing a deep red. Their bodies then seemed to shimmer for a moment, before a new cloak appeared on their bodies with a hood that was over their heads. The scariest part was, that instead of seeing their faces within the hood, all they saw was a skeleton face with burning red eyes.
Reaper then grabbed his scythe off his back and swung it vertically, sending a wave of shadow at the Klaxosaur, causing it to stumble.
"Hey asshole!" Reaper shouted to the Klaxosaur. It turned to look at them and Goro swore he could feel its eyes narrowing.
"Remember us?" Owl said as ice was slowly coating the ground around her.
"It seems we have some unfinished business." Crow said as his body began to shoot off little arcs of lightening.
"You took something very valuable from us." Snake said as the ground around him cracked and turned into fine pieces of dirt.
"How about we do the same to you." Cypress said as moss and lichen began to appear on the ground around her.
"By taking your life." Raven growled as the ground around her began to become drenched in water.
"What are you guys thinking!" Argentea shouted as they raced toward the Klaxosaur. She stepped forward to chase after them but was blocked by a wall of shadow.
"Stay out of this, this one is ours." Owl growled over the comms.
Argentea turned to see Ichigo attempting to force open the cockpit of Strelitiza.
"I guess we had better help her." She said.
…
Reaper sent another wave of shadow at the Klaxosaur cutting through its hand, causing it to fall off. All the Klaxosaur did was reform its hand and charge at them as well.
"Slice it to fucking ribbons!" Reaper roared. He then jumped and sliced its right arm into 3 pieces. Crow and Raven turned to the limb and began to destroy it. Reaper landed, turned, and sliced off its other arm, causing the Klaxosaur to roar in pain.
Over with Crow and Raven, a tornado was descending from the sky to strike the dismembered arm. As it landed metal and flesh went everywhere as the tornado was moving up and down the removed arm. Soon the cyclone was dyed the blue color of the Klaxosaur's blood as it continued to destroy the arm. The tornado soon ascended and dissipated leaving nothing behind but scraps of metal and flesh.
Cypress and Snake were taking care of the other arm in their own way. A miniature forest of ivy had appeared and was tying the arm to the earth. Snake was landing strikes on the arm and everywhere he struck, the area around the wound rusted and fell to pieces, the flesh decaying. After a few dozen strikes, Cypress held up her scythe, causing it to glow green, before the ivy tightened on the arm causing it to burst into dust and be scattered by the wind. The ivy soon wilted and died returning to the earth.
"With that out of the way, TIME TO DIE!" Reaper said as Owl stepped forward.
Owl slammed her scythe into the ground causing a wave of ice to spread from the tip of the blade toward the Klaxosaur. It soon reached its feet and began to freeze it in place. Once the ice was half way up its body, Reaper struck. He held out his scythe and it was wrapped in shadow. Behind the Gutenberg class a massive ethereal version of Harvester appeared. Reaper swung Harvester down and the massive scythe did the same, piercing into the Klaxosaur's back. The upper blade pierced back out of the front of the Klaxosaur, the core impaled on its blade. Owl then leaped into the air and froze the Gutenberg class's head. She then sliced the ice causing it to shatter and making the Klaxosaur explode into a shower of blue blood. In the distance Squad 26 were watching and thought they saw some skeletal figure was wielding the ethereal Harvester with a sinister grin on its face before it disappeared, but assumed it was a trick of the light.
"That, was for Havana and James you son of a bitch." Reaper growled.
Over the comms, Reaper vaguely heard, "Get away from him you bitch!" from Ichigo before hearing a groan of pain and Ichigo asking, "Hiro! Hiro, are you alright?"
Looking at his wrist communicator, Reaper was shocked to see Hiro's vitals had returned to normal.
"Master?" Reaper asked, as Hiro's vitals had flatlined over an hour ago.
"The boy still has a purpose, so I brought him back. I also returned to him what was lost. It will take about a day for the memories to settle but he should be no worse for wear. You will have to mend the rift that has been caused by this event, as your friends probably think it was her who killed him." Death said. The sun began to rise in the background.
"Reaper Alpha, I have new orders for you." Death said before pausing. "Protect the children. Death out."
Reaper and his squad suddenly felt exhaustion roll over them as they changed back to their normal states, scythes disappearing and auras fading. The trudged over to where Squad 13 was standing with Squad 26. 13 was standing in a protective circle around Hiro making sure Zero Two was nowhere near him.
"What in the hell was that?" 090 asked.
"Yeah what was that?" Zorome asked.
"What that was, you do not need to know." Reaper said as they went to check on Zero Two. 13 sent glares there way but they did not care. Zero Two was a part of 13's squad, if they would not check on her then they would.
"All you need to know is that, that was an act of revenge. We had faced that particular Klaxosaur before, and we had a very large vendetta against it as a result of that encounter. The actions we took were befitting of that vendetta. Although we should have made it suffer more." Owl said.
"That doesn't…" Ichigo started to say before Reaper glared at her.
"Ichigo drop it. If you want a better explanation then I will give you this, that piece of shit," Reaper said pointing at the remains of the Klaxosaur, "took someone very important from both me and Owl, and we responded in kind."
Ichigo did not respond but he could see the distrust in her eyes as well as everyone else in Squad 13, a rift had been made and it would take time to heal. Reaper saw Zero Two looking at him and Owl with dawning realization on her face. Her mouth dropped in horror as the realization hit her. Just as she was about to say something the comms unit crackled to life.
"All units, the kissing operation is complete, well done." Hachi said as the FranXX retrieval teams began to approach.
…
Atop the damaged pipeline a boy with dirty blond hair, with a pure white FranXX was watching what was going on below.
"You're certainly hitting it off aren't you, Nine Iota." He said before turning his attention to Reaper and his squad who were with Zero Two and were staring at the sunrise.
"You, Reaper 1, are very interesting indeed. How did you do those things? You certainly are an asset that would be more useful under the direct orders of Papa."
…
At a hidden base deep within Klaxosaur territory, a woman was staring at a series of monitors, silently fuming. She was dressed a cloak of blue and black and had long admiral blue hair and royal purple eyes.
"How dare they. How dare they?! Killing my children like that! They are nothing but scum who steal precious resources from the earth with no forethought of the consequences!" she thought staring at the screens showing that the parasites had won.
"Wait a minute." She said as she spotted something on the screen. Fingers flying across the virtual keyboard she zoomed in on the figures dressed in black.
"It can't be…" She said looking at the screen in shock. "Every report listed them as MIA! I searched for 20 years for them and the Princess herself went looking for them and couldn't find them."
She then zoomed in on the figure with the messy blond hair until his figure filled the screen.
"Reaper." She whimpered.
A/N: And done. Whew that took too long to write. So, Reaper 1's master has been revealed. The bogyman of their past has been defeated, and Hiro's memories have been returned. The consequences of siding with Zero Two have caused a rift to appear between Squad 13 and Reaper 1. And who are the two figures at the end of the chapter and what do they want? As always, criticism and reviews are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!