Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron
Chapter 15: Rage and The Truth
"We killed twenty-five in total today. The enemies were all the same type of Conrad class, just like on the other days." Ichigo said.
Squad 13 and Reaper 1 were standing in the briefing room, giving Nana and Hachi a rundown on the day's events. Three weeks had passed since Havana and James's day of death and Reaper and Owl had been shifted back to active duty.
"Thank you for the report." Nana said, she then turned her gaze to Reaper 1 who were standing in the back of the room. "How did your mission go Reaper 1?"
"Two more sub-bases cleared but nothing of interest inside and no nest." Reaper responded.
That was a lie. There were things of interest inside. Information. Information that was disturbing to say the least. Their FranXX were alive, of that Reaper was now positive. It seems that Humanity was harvesting the dead Klaxosaurs and converting them into FranXX, meaning that they were essentially piloting the Klaxosaurs. Which led to even more disturbing thoughts, but without concrete evidence, the Klaxosaurs were still the enemy.
"Thank you. Keep looking, we will find the nest eventually. Due to your tremendous work, the S-Planning in this area is proceeding smoothly." Nana said.
"That being said, Codes 326 and 196 you need to up your kill count. Your Paracapacity scores are falling as well." Hachi said.
"I just wasn't feeling well today." Mitsuru said.
"That doesn't excuse these scores." Hachi said, and Mitsuru just scoffed and turned his head away.
"Anyway, keep it up and defend the work area from tomorrow onward, too. That is all, dismissed." Hachi said.
…
The next day when Reaper and his squad returned from clearing yet another base, they found that Squad 13 had yet to return. It was late evening, so they should have been back by now. Reaper and his squad went to Reaper's room to view the footage from the briefing room. They had placed their own cameras and microphones in the room for situations like this where they were away from Squad 13 and something happened. Reaper started the recording.
"What is S-Planning anyway?" Zorome asked.
"I don't know. Digging for more Magma Energy maybe? That's an excavator, right?" Hiro said.
On screen, Squad 13 was standing guard outside of a massive wall, Reaper could see a large structure sticking out above the wall, it looked more like a pile driver to him.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good. I'm about to choke on the stench of Klaxosaurs." Strelitiza said.
Over in Genista's cockpit, Futoshi was just about professing his love for Kokoro but was doing a terrible job of it. Reaper and his squad were cringing at his attempts but were fortunately spared anymore from Argentea interrupting.
"Could you guys knock it off, I'm about to be sick over here."
"Wait, you guys could hear us the whole time?" Futoshi asked.
"Unfortunately." Mitsuru replied.
They were spared any further embarrassment by a Klaxosaur alert going off in their cockpits.
"Klaxosaurs approaching from 9 o'clock. All units prepare to intercept." Delphinium said.
"Hasn't Reaper 1 found that nest yet?" Zorome complained.
Owl scoffed. "You try finding a Klaxosaur nest in a 10-mile radius. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack."
Just then, at the most inopportune moment, Chlorophytum fell to her knees and deactivated.
"Chlorophytum, report!" Delphinium said.
"Mitsuru is down, he's breathing really heavy and sweating pretty badly." She replied.
Squad 13 easily dealt with the Klaxosaurs as Chlorophytum was returned to the plantation. After that little bout was over, no Klaxosaurs showed up for the rest of the day. The mission ended about an hour ago.
Reaper killed the feed and turned to his squad.
"Infirmary."
They proceeded to the infirmary but found no one there. Reaper heard voices on the other side of the infirmary door, so he decided to knock.
"Enter." They heard Hachi say.
"Oh Reaper 1. When did you get back?" Nana asked as she stuck a needle into Mitsuru's arm.
"About 10 minutes ago." Raven said.
"What's wrong with him?" Cypress asked.
"The Child Fever. It's an illness that only strikes children, as the name says." Nana says.
"What are the symptoms?" Reaper asked.
"Tiredness, heavy breathing, sweating, loss of consciousness, headaches, and a general sense of unwellness." Hachi said.
"Flu." Owl said to Reaper. "Although its mutated far beyond what we have experienced, based on the sudden onset."
"Flu?" Nana asked.
"Influenza, if you want to be technical. It's an illness that plagued Humanity many years ago. Potentially deadly to those very young and those very old, it usually struck during the winter months. Its symptoms are similar to those you described, especially in the late stages when left untreated." Snake said.
"I'll give him an antipyretic, it's only a stopgap measure for now, but it should show some effect tomorrow." Nana said, sticking a needle into Mitsuru's arm.
"I'm assuming that you came here to give your report?" Hachi said.
"And figure out where Squad 13 went since it was past sundown." Crow said.
"13 left about 5 minutes before you arrived. What is your report?"
"Once again, no nest, but there are signs of an approaching Gutenberg class. Although what type it was we were unable to discern." Reaper said.
"That's disturbing. They are already down one FranXX…" Nana said worriedly. "Reaper 1, we are pulling you off your current assignment, your new orders are to assist Squad 13 with defending the S-Planning site."
"Understood, ma'am." Reaper said, and his squad saluted her and Hachi.
"Dismissed." She said, and Reaper and his squad walked out.
"I wish they wouldn't do that, it embarrasses me." Nana muttered with a light blush. "For Papa's sake, they are only a few years younger than me!"
…
Reaper and his squad walked toward the hanger, there was something that they needed to address. Just before they entered the hanger, Reaper waved his hand and the camera's in the room were covered in shadow, all the camera's saw was the room as it was now, without the Reapers inside it. They walked into the room and stood in the center of the room facing their FranXX.
"Black Rose, quit faking, I know you are awake." Reaper said.
"You know?" A voice said.
"We do." Owl said.
"The others?"
"We do as well." Crow said as he stared at Lotus.
A sigh was heard before Black Rose came online. Her faceplate activated, but she managed to say in her humanoid form due to being in the docking station. She turned her head to the other two FranXX.
"Alright girls, the jig is up."
Lotus and Digitalis activated and then looked down at their pilots.
"It is nice to finally meet you, pilots." Lotus said to Crow and Raven.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you all as well." Reaper said, and his squad bowed to them as a greeting.
"I must apologize, Snake, for a few weeks ago. I wasn't expecting to be thrown that far and I tried to catch myself, leading to your broken arm." Digitalis said with a look of shame.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm perfectly fine now, so no permanent harm done." Snake said.
"Thank you, Black Rose, from saving us from those close calls the other day." Owl said.
"Not a problem, Reaper. That is why we are here, to see that which you cannot. Death made us to assist you in combat since, by technicality, you are not the one doing the fighting." Black Rose said.
"Strelitiza! Quit being shy!" Lotus said to her.
She received a growl in response but otherwise Strelitiza stayed silent and offline. Reaper walked over in front of Strelitiza.
"I doubt I need to tell you this Strelitiza, but I'm going to say it anyway." Reaper said and bowed to her. "Keep them safe. They have suffered enough at the hands of these humans and I would like you to keep them from further harm while they are with you."
Strelitiza activated for a moment to look at Reaper, before nodding to him and shutting off again.
"Thank you." Reaper said and walked back to the others.
"Are we going hunting again tomorrow, Reaper?" Black Rose asked.
"No, we have been reassigned to helping 13 defend the S-Planning site. We probably won't be deployed tomorrow due to Chlorophytum's stamen being in medical." Reaper said.
"Why were we shifted to guard duty?" Lotus asked.
"The loss of Chlorophytum is one reason, but the main one is due to that Gutenberg that is roaming about the area." Owl said.
"Do they think that we couldn't handle it?" Digitalis huffed.
"No, more accurately, they probably think that Squad 13, being down one FranXX, won't be able to handle it. It is likely that the Gutenberg will ignore us and rush the S-Planning site, meaning that if we were off hunting, as you say, we would be too far away to lend assistance, if needed." Raven said.
"Alright everyone, we need to head back." Reaper said. "It was wonderful meeting you all I look forward to working with you Black Rose." The others nodded in agreement.
"It was nice meeting you as well pilots. We also look forward to working with you. Have a good night Reapers." Black Rose said, then she as well as Lotus and Digitalis shut down.
As Reaper and his squad exited the room, Reaper waved his hand removing the shadow obscuring the cameras.
…
"Reaper, may I ask you a possibly impolite question?" Ichigo asked.
Ichigo had taken to meditating with him whenever he went. She, much like he, found the activity relaxing, as well as a good way to bounce ideas off of Reaper as they came up.
"Ask away, the answer will depend on the question."
"Who is it you believe in? You don't pray to Papa like we do, so who do you believe in?"
"We believe in something far more powerful than your Papa. I doubt you will believe me, but your Papa is not a god. An extremely smart man, yes, but a god, no. Humanity used to know who we believe in but since Papa showed up, you all have forgotten who he is. Like I said, who we believe in is far older and far more powerful than Papa."
"Can I ask another question?" He nodded. "What is it that you say at dinner? I've only caught bits and pieces of it and it makes no sense."
*"Tibi gratias ago tibi Magister: providente nos cum elevatum coram nobis. Lorem Praestans alia planum in ista vita beatitudinis aeternae. Permanere possint voto obligare ad nos in nomine servientes usque ad dona nobis requiem. May fide nostra non repulsa. Amen."
Poor Ichigo looked so confused. "What language is that?"
"Figure that out, and figure out what it says, and I'll tell you who we believe in."
…
"Partner Shuffle?" Everyone asked.
"This isn't an order. It is merely and option available to you. Take this chance to talk it out with your partners, and if anyone would like to try the shuffle, ask." Nana said.
Reaper cast an eye about his squad. No one seemed inclined to change. He then looked at Hiro and Zero Two, the two were so wrapped up in each other though, it didn't seem to be a problem. So, he relaxed.
"We don't need this shuffle." Futoshi was saying, "After all, I've already promised to protect you forever. Right, Kokoro?"
Kokoro gave a non-committal "yeah" as a response. Reaper saw however, her eyes were locked on Mitsuru and Ikuno. "This isn't going to end well."
"Shut up! I told you to drop it!" Mitsuru shouted, causing everyone to look at him.
After turning his head away, everyone went back to their conversations.
…
"So, is there anyone who wants to try riding with a different partner?" Nana asked.
Ikuno raised her hand. "I would like to try pistil to pistil connections. For emergency situations were a backup stamen is not available." She glanced at Ichigo. "Would you mind helping me, Ichigo?"
"Me?" Ichigo said, shocked.
"Please?"
"Uh, sure."
Reaper narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling that Ikuno was bi, something Reaper knew would be seen as a disease in their current time period, but this confirmed it. It didn't bother him and his squad, it just concerned him that it might become an issue later.
"Very well, we will try it. Anyone else?" Nana said.
For a moment, all was silent. Then Kokoro raised her hand.
"I would like to try piloting with Mitsuru" Kokoro said.
"But-but Kokoro, y-you promised!" Futoshi stuttered.
"I'm sorry Futoshi."
"Oh boy" Reaper thought.
Everyone else left the room except for Reaper 1 and Goro.
"Reaper, what are you doing?" Goro said from the door.
"Pulling up their Paracapacity scores." He said striding over to the console. "Don't tell me you're not curious, Ichigo is involved." He then pulled up the proper screen just before the test started.
Watching the screen, Reaper saw that Ichigo and Ikuno had no score and timed out while Genista's score held above the minimum and passed.
"This is not going to end well." Crow said, looking at Genista's passing score, and everyone nodded.
…
That evening, Reaper was walking toward the boy's wing. They had been trying to talk some sense into Futoshi, who had been in tears when Genista passed, for over 2 hours. He was just coming to check on them when he heard a scuffle occurring. Turning the corner, Reaper got there just in time to see Mitsuru dodging a flying Futoshi who faceplanted into the wall.
"What a pain." Mitsuru said.
"Mitsuru try to understand how Futoshi feels." Hiro said.
"What gives you the right to say that?" Mitsuru said.
Hiro gasped as he remembered what Mitsuru was talking about. Before he could say anything, Reaper cut in.
"Mitsuru your being an ass for no reason."
"Why do you care about my reasons Reaper? What have you ever lost? When the fighting got too tough in your time, you froze yourself like a coward. You are nothing but a failure."
The temperature in the room plummeted. The shadows rose and covered the windows letting in only a small amount of light. Horrifying creatures crawled out of the shadows and stood behind Reaper. Other shadows depicted horrible visions of death and destruction. The only thing that could be see of Reaper's face were his burning red eyes, they were alight with the fury he was feeling.
Looking at what was going on around him Goro whispered in Mitsuru's ear,
"Mitsuru, I think you just dug your grave."
…
Meanwhile
Owl was just getting ready for bed when she realized something was happening. The shadows in her room were attempting to reach through the ceiling and the temperature in the room was slowly dropping.
"Oh shit." Owl said.
She then raced off, unaware of what she was wearing, to find Reaper and make sure he did not kill someone.
…
Back with a pissed off Reaper
"What do I know about loss?" Reaper said, his voice full of fury. "The more accurate question is, what could you, in your pathetically short life, know about loss. Tell me, Mitsuru, have you ever watched your world burn?"
Reaper walked forward.
"Have you seen everything you cared about in this world, be obliterated before your very eyes?"
Reaper summoned Harvester.
"Have you watched your hopes, dreams, and achievements be reduced to nothing more than fucking ash?"
Reaper placed Harvester against Mitsuru's throat and the shadow monsters closed in, Squad 13 backing off due to fear.
…
Nana was watching the screen with tension on her face. She and Hachi were watching a live feed from the manor showing Reaper threatening Mitsuru. Dr. Franxx was also in the room, observing what the shadows were doing.
"Should we send some guards to stop him?" Nana asked.
"No point. He would cut them down without even blinking." Hachi said.
"Reaper said this wouldn't happen. He said that his squad would intervene." Nana said with worry.
"Someone is." Hachi said.
He then pointed to one of the other cameras. It was showing a scantily clad Owl blurring through the manor, attempting to reach Reaper in time.
"I hope she makes it." Nana said.
…
Mitsuru was feeling an extreme amount of fear. Even when Zero Two attacked him, he did not feel anything close to this level of fear. Mitsuru could swear he felt cold fingers tracing a path down his spine. Reaper was up in his face and the only thing he could see was Reaper. His vision then waivered, and what he saw truly terrified him. Reaper had been replaced with a skeleton. It was wearing a black cloak with its hood up. It had a single bladed steel scythe pressed to his throat and it was staring at him with two beady red eyes. The illusion was then broken as Owl raced around the corner.
"Reaper!"
Reaper's attention turned toward Owl.
"Enough Reaper. Go walk it off." She ordered.
Reaper glared at her for a solid minute before dispelling the shadows covering the windows and the shadow monsters crawled back into the shadows. He then banished Harvester and turned and walked off. Before turning the corner however, he punched one of the outside walls, making a new window. The stone that made up that portion of wall reduced to dust and pebbles.
Zero Two, who had showed up in the middle of everything, then slapped the shit out of Zorome and Futoshi who were staring at the scantily clad Owl with their tongues hanging out. Owl sighed pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Who said what?"
"Mitsuru accused Reaper of being a coward for freezing himself and asked him what he knew about loss." Hiro said.
"You. Fucking. Idiot." She growled at him. "Given what happened a few weeks ago, you still pulled this shit? You are lucky that Reaper decided to listen to me, because if he hadn't," Owl then pointed to the new hole in the wall, "that would have been you."
Owl got in Mitsuru's face.
"Until you have been through the hell that Reaper and I have, don't assume you know anything about loss."
She then shoved him aside and walked back down the hall, covering Futoshi and Zorome's eyes with shadow as she went.
…
The next morning's breakfast was near silent. Most of squad 13 was afraid of Reaper, evidently, the boys had told the girls what had happened, except for Hiro and Zero Two. It hadn't helped matters that Reaper was still silently fuming. He quickly ate his breakfast and left to the lake to meditate. He was there for only an hour when the Klaxosaur alarm went off.
"Good. Something I can vent on." He muttered and cracked his knuckles.
…
Owl reached the hanger a few minutes before Reaper did. As Reaper entered the hanger, Black Rose quietly asked Owl a question.
"Owl why is everyone afraid of Reaper?"
Owl sighed. "One of the parasites in Squad 13 accused Reaper of being a coward and asked what he knew about loss, and Reaper went a bit overboard in his reaction."
Reaper and Owl walked into Black Rose. As Reaper got ready to connect, a message popped up in front of him.
I'm sorry Reaper.
"It's not your fault Black Rose. The boy doesn't know any better and that makes it easy for him to push my buttons by mistake." He said, he then began the linking sequence.
…
"There is a Gutenberg class Klaxosaur inbound to the S-Planning site from the SSW." Hachi said. "All workers have been removed from the site, set up a defensive perimeter half a click out and neutralize the target. Genista and Chlorophytum will act as rear support. Reaper 1, you will meet it head on."
"Yes, sir!"
"That thing is huge!" Argentea said.
"And ugly." Zorome added.
"Then let's kill it!" Reaper said as his squad rocketed forward, Strelitiza right beside them.
Black Rose jumped on top of the Klaxosaur and began slicing away while Strelitiza tried to run it through underneath.
"No good, the cores too deep." Hiro said.
"Guys, I think we pissed off mama…OOF!" Reaper said as Black Rose was hit in the gut and set flying.
Strelitiza ran and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Thanks, Strelitiza." Black rose said and Strelitiza nodded.
Reaper resummoned Nightmare who had been knocked out of Black Rose's hand when she was hit.
"Alright, now you've pissed me off." Reaper said.
"What did you mean by 'we pissed off mama'?" Strelitiza asked.
"It's a collective mass. It's made up of all those small Klaxosaurs that you have been fighting over the past few days." Owl said.
Squad 13 continued to try to kill the Klaxosaur instead of trying to stop its movement.
"Strike it in the legs! We need to slow it down!" Reaper said but Squad 13 ignored them.
"13, did you hear what Reaper said?" Crow asked.
"No. We have all muted Reaper." Was Argentea response.
Reaper began to twitch.
"Easy Reaper. Guys you need to listen to what Reaper says. This is a collective mass Klaxosaur, hacking and slashing only makes things worse. You need to impede its movement, strike it in the legs." Crow said.
"Great idea, Crow!" Futoshi said.
"Genista, use your canon to help break it apart. That will expose the core." Owl said, but again they were ignored.
"Cypress." Reaper growled.
Cypress repeated what Owl said, again trying to get squad 13 to unmute Black Rose.
"Thanks for the idea, Digitalis." Mitsuru said.
"Hey, it was Owl's idea." Genista said, and Black Rose relaxed a bit, glad to know someone was on their side, until Mitsuru broke that.
"Who's Owl."
Black Rose began to twitch, claws forming on her hands. It was one thing to ignore the entire squad, but to single her pilots out because they were afraid was quite another.
"Ignore us one more time…" Reaper and Owl growled.
"Easy you two, easy." Strelitiza said.
Reaper and his squad watched, as Reaper now considered Zero Two and Hiro a part of their squad, even if they weren't officially, as Squad 13 began to attack its legs. Chlorophytum was operating fine but Genista was having trouble, Mitsuru was trying to push Kokoro too much.
"Digitalis help Genista. Long range support. Lotus swing around to the back and try to sever the tendons in its back legs. Strelitiza, keep me calm." Reaper said ending with a growl.
Everything was going fine, until Genista fell. Mitsuru pushed Kokoro to far and their sync rates fell below operating levels causing her to shut down. The Klaxosaur was raising a foot to crush her when Reaper shouted,
"Run you fool!"
But he was ignored again, and Chlorophytum stopped the foot from crushing her. It was then that Lotus and Delphinium severed the tendons on the Klaxosaurs rear legs causing it to fall to its knees.
"That was a great plan Lotus!" Delphinium said, then a loud growl was heard.
"Reaper, Owl, no!" Strelitiza shouted, but it was too late.
Nana quickly pulled up Black Rose's sync scores and saw something strange. Their scores had both dropped into the negatives, which wasn't possible (instead of having a positive and negative pulse there were two negative pulses). It was causing Black Rose to enter some kind of Rampage mode, but different from the norm.
"Reaper, Owl, whatever you're doing, don't!" Nana shouted.
Some type of multi-layered voice came over the comms.
"We will not be ignored again." it said.
…
Black Rose was changing. She was forced onto all fours, all the color was drained out of her leaving her a pitch-black color. Her fingers changed into long claws and her eyes turned to a burning red color. Her body changed to that of her Rampage mode but with spikes across her skin and her mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. She let out a terrifying roar which caused Squad 13 to look at her, even the Klaxosaur, who had extended a leg which was growing like roots toward the S-Planning site, turned and froze at the sight.
"What have you all done?!" Lotus and Digitalis shouted.
Black Rose took off toward the Klaxosaur, leaving black after images after herself as she ran. The Klaxosaur quickly regenerated its severed tendons and retracted its leg and began to flee from the approaching monstrosity.
"Get back here." Black Rose said as it pursued the fleeing Klaxosaur.
13, and the remains of Reaper 1 watched as Black Rose chased after the fleeing Klaxosaur. Genista had gotten back up, solving whatever issues the two were having apparently.
"You all had to go and ignore them." Snake said. "After we told you not to do that."
Black Rose and the Klaxosaur had disappeared from view, but they could hear the Klaxosaur trying to get away.
"Now we have to deal with this mess. Great. This is gonna hurt." Digitalis said.
Black Rose let out another terrifying roar and the Klaxosaur began to shriek bloody murder.
"Crow, report. What the hell happened to Black Rose?" Nana said.
"The children have pissed them off so much, they have become Consumed." Crow said.
"'Consumed'?" Nana asked.
"In essence, Reaper and Owl have fallen into a blind rage, a state we call Consumed. While Consumed, we can't differentiate between friend and foe. We can only focus on what caused us to be Consumed." Crow said.
"Basically, they have gone temporarily insane. Since it was Squad 13 and the Klaxosaur that caused them to enter this state, they are going to come after them, and anything else in the way." Lotus said.
"Retreat back into the plantation." Hachi said.
"No! Then they will tear through the plantation to get to Squad 13!" Digitalis said.
The Klaxosaurs screams were abruptly cut off and they could hear Black Rose's triumphant roar.
Lotus and Digitalis summoned Hurricane and Corruption. "Children get behind us and do not interfere, they will tear you apart. Nana have several medical teams at the ready. We are going to need them." Crow said solemnly.
"What are you planning on doing?" Nana asked.
"Fighting them. We have orders from our master to keep these children safe, and Reaper and Owl killing them is not keeping them safe. On her own, Owl is not too hard to subdue in a Consumed state, but she and Reaper are our best fighters. We are going to get very hurt because of this. but, if we can stall them long enough, they should snap out of the Consumed state. While Reaper does not have a limit to the damage he can take, Owl does. When she falls, he will fall." Crow said.
"I hope you children learn from this. Last time Reaper became Consumed, it took 2 years as well as 3 Reaper teams to subdue him, including ourselves. And none of us came out of that fight unscathed. We are trying to repeat that feat with only four of us. We are going to get critically injured because of this. Think about that." Snake said.
Strelitiza then stepped next to Lotus and drew her lance.
"Strelitiza, what are you doing?" Lotus asked.
"We are fighting with you. Reaper and Owl are our friends and we want them back." Hiro replied.
"Are you prepared to die?" Digitalis asked.
Strelitiza smirked. "We are."
"Good, because here they come." Crow said as Black Rose reappeared on the horizon.
…
Black Rose was drenched in blue blood. It was dripping from her body as she stalked toward Squad 13. Her gaze was boring holes into Delphinium's head as she approached. Even though she was made of metal, you could almost see muscles rippling beneath her skin as she took a step. Strelitiza, Lotus, and Digitalis stepped in her way.
"Get out of my way or you die." Black Rose said without stopping.
"I'm sorry Black Rose but we can't do that." Crow said.
Black Rose's muscles tensed as she stopped. "Here she comes." Crow thought.
"Then DIE!" she screamed as she leapt at Lotus.
Lotus ducked as Black Rose attempted to take her head. Black Rose turned and lunged at her again and Lotus was once again forced to dodge, this time a swipe at her chest. When Black Rose landed she was hit by a shadow wave which knocked her over. Rolling over, she snarled at Digitalis, who fired the shot and went after her instead. She had gotten a few strikes in on Digitalis before she was hit again, she had gotten a hit on her arm as well as a couple of slices on her legs. Then Strelitiza joined in on the fray by stabbing her in the paw. Black Rose turned and glared at her.
"You should have stayed out of this Zero Two. I was going to let you live, but you interfered." Black Rose said and lunged at her as well.
So, the fight continued. Each side taking more and more damage until Black Rose got lucky. Digitalis didn't dodge in time and Black Rose landed on her chest. She snarled and began digging in with her claws. Cypress screamed.
"You shouldn't have interfered Cypress! If you hadn't then I would be about to fucking kill you!" Black Rose said before she was knocked off of her by Lotus.
"Digitalis status!" Crow said as he fended of Black Rose.
"*cough* Punctured lung." Snake wheezed. "Both Cypress *Cough* and I *Wheeze* were mauled pre*cough cough*tty badly."
"Delphinium, get them back to the plantation. Nana I hope those medical teams are ready." Hiro said.
Black Rose was still assaulting Crow when they got a hit on Black Roses right flank. Severely impeding her movement. In retaliation, she ran a claw down Lotus's leg, crippling her.
"Well Raven, I guess this is then end of the line for you two. Too bad. You two don't get the happy ending." Black Rose mocked as she stalked forward.
She would never get the chance to finish the job. Strelitiza had taken the chance while her back was turned to jump in the air and stab her through the back.
"A-a-a-a-a…"
Her mouth was open and her eyes wide before she collapsed and shut down. Her skin faded back to the normal black and red that her Rampage mode had and the claws disappeared as well as the extra spikes, teeth changing back to normal.
"Is it done?" Nana asked.
"It is done." Lotus said before she passed out from exhaustion and pain.
…
Squad 13 were waiting outside of the medical ward, faces full of guilt. Cypress and Snake had been mauled badly, Crow and Raven's lower legs were torn to ribbons but the worst was Reaper and Owl. They both had holes in their chests where they had been stabbed through by Strelitiza as well as the deep gouges in their hips from Lotus. The most worrying fact was that, upon admittance, they weren't registering any higher brain functions.
Just then, Nana walked out of the medical ward.
"They'll live, but that is about the only good news I have." Nana said. "Even with their extreme healing, it is going to take time for them to be back 100%. It's not something they can just walk off. The most concerning ones are Reaper and Owl, they still aren't registering higher brain function.
…
When Reaper awoke he was in a black room. Looking around, Reaper saw there was a door and white mist floating through the room. "Aww crap, I know where I am. I'm in the Punishment Room." Reaper thought.
The Punishment Room was a special room within the Shadow Realm. It was a sealed room with a door that only opened from the outside. The walls were made up of pure shadow energy, so they couldn't be damaged or broken and there were no windows. He had been in here a few times, when he got out of hand.
He sat and thought about what he did to be sentenced to stay in here. Suddenly, the memories hit him. Oh, that's why. He had gotten Consumed and attempted to attack the children. That violated his orders to protect them, thus sending him here.
Reaper curled up against a wall, hugging his knees to his chest and placing his head down. "I wonder what master will come up with for punishment this time." Reaper thought. The last time it had been isolation, as a punishment for assaulting one of his commanders for giving bad orders which resulted in children getting killed, he was confined to the Punishment Room for a month. The light died from his eyes as he thought about what his master might choose to do this time.
He had been staring unseeing in front of him for so long that he did not register that Death had entered the room. It wasn't until he started speaking that Reaper realized he was there.
"I did not send you here to punish you Reaper." Death said.
When Reaper focused on what was in front of him again, he saw that Death was kneeling down to his level.
"Then why am I here master?" Reaper said in a monotone voice.
"I sent you here to contain you until your rage subsided." Death replied. "Despite your bodies being knocked out, you and Owl were still full of rage, so I sealed you in separate rooms until you worked it out of your system. You collapsed about 10 minutes before you woke up. You had been at it about 3 hours."
Reaper then slowly looked around. "How did Owl fair?"
"Well enough, she was at it for only an hour before she collapsed. I sent her back to her body a little while after she woke up. She was quite concerned about you when I told you were still going at it."
Reaper let out a chuckle. "That sounds about right."
Death looked at him.
"You are unsatisfied. Why?"
"Master, I disobeyed your orders. I failed to protect the children by attacking them. I should be punished for such an act."
Death sighed. "Fine. I will give you a punishment. Everyone in Squad 13 will know what happened to Havana and James."
Reaper looked like he'd been punched in the gut.
"I won't give them all the details, just enough to know what she meant to you and how she died. Nana and Hachi will know too, to a lesser extent. You will, of course, have to deal with the questions they will have. That will be your punishment."
"Very well master." Reaper said.
"Now, go back. And remember, the orders given to you by your superiors do not supersede my own. Don't forget your role."
And Reaper fell asleep.
…
As Reaper came back to consciousness, he felt someone petting his hair. He assumed it was Ichigo, as she was the only one to actually touch his hair and make a comment on its softness.
"I am so sorry Reaper." Ichigo whispered. "We acted so out of line last week, and Mitsuru even more so."
"Last week?" Reaper thought.
"If I had known that you and Owl might not wake up I would have done something different. You two have gone through so much hell. And our actions last week were…inexcusable. We shouldn't have been afraid of you, your anger was justified based on what you went through. To lose someone so important to you…I just can't imagine it."
She stopped petting his hair and he heard her stand up.
"Wake up soon Reaper." She said, and he heard her walk out.
All was silent for a few minutes before the door opened and closed again. He heard the sound of heels on the floor before stopping next to his bed.
"Why Reaper? Why do you fight? If even part of what I saw was true, that kind of pain would break someone. Yet, you continue to fight against those who took everything from you. Why?" A voice said, it sounded like Nana.
She then turned and walked away. Before she could exit, the door opened once more.
"Hachi?"
"Nana. Did you have a peculiar dream last night? One involving people who, I assume were R-01, excuse me, Reaper and his squad?"
"You too?"
"Yes, it appears the children did as well. They are badly shaken up."
"I doubt that such a thing was easy for them to witness."
"They have been trying to make sense of it and Reaper's squad have isolated themselves. No doubt the memory of what happened is rather painful for them. How is he?"
"The wound is still healing, although it is looking better. His brainwaves have risen so it's only a matter of time until he returns to us."
"When he does, make sure the children lay off him a few days. I doubt being reminded of what he lost so soon will help his mental health."
"How is Owl?"
"The children have been hounding her the most, as she experienced almost the same thing. Like the others in his squad she has barricaded herself in her room and refuses to answer their questions. She has been beside herself with worry, since Reaper's condition has not improved before today."
"Alright, let's go deal this situation. It's the easier of the two. What will we tell them though?"
"First, we tell them to back off Reaper 1, then we explain, in the best way we can, what they are going through."
The door then closed behind them.
Reaper tried to open his eyes, say something, anything. But he couldn't do a thing, it was like he was just a passenger in his body. The door opened quietly and closed.
"Reaper." A voice said, Owl.
"Reaper," she said again, "they know. I don't know how, but they know." Her voice cracked, and he heard sobs in her voice.
"Reaper, please, tell me what to do. I can't answer all their questions. It's too painful. What do I do?"
Reaper wanted so badly to reach out and hold her and tell her that everything would be fine, but he couldn't move. He felt her wipe something off his face.
"Even though you're not here, your body still cries for my pain."
She then stood and walked back out the door.
Reaper laid there for a few minutes getting himself together, before attempting to get up. Failing to do so willingly he did it the hard way, Shadow Puppeting himself.
Open your eyes.
He felt his eyes being forced open.
Move your body.
Reaper forced his body to sit up and look around, loosening the joints.
Stand up.
His body stood.
Walk.
He made his body walk around the room until he felt himself able to move about on his own and released the Shadow Puppeteering. Summoning his cloak and gathering his communicator he headed toward the door. "Time to face the music, before things get too out of hand."
Approaching the manor, Reaper heard an argument going on inside.
"Why can't we talk to her?" Zorome was complaining.
"Because she doesn't want to talk. If you saw even a portion of what we saw, then you should know that experiencing that was painful for her." Hachi said.
"Lay off Zorome, just wait until Reaper wakes up." Miku said.
"Poor Reaper." Ikuno muttered.
Reaper then chose that moment to walk through the door. Everyone turned to him in shock. Nana quickly rushed over and wrapped him in a hug.
"I'm so sorry, Reaper." She whispered in his ear before straightening up. "Reaper, what are you doing out of medical? You are not healed."
"I am perfectly fine Nana, now what has happened since I was out?" Reaper said playing dumb.
"What happened after Havana died?" Zorome blurted out.
Even though Reaper was expecting the question it still hit with the force of a punch.
"Who told you what happened to my Havana?" Reaper asked still attempting to recover from the question.
"We all had a dream about it last night." Nana said.
"You didn't answer my question." Zorome pressed.
"After I scattered her ashes, this." Reaper said as he took off his cloak.
Nana and Hachi's eyes widened at the number of scars, as this was their first time seeing them.
Gesturing to his scars, he continued. "I spent the next two years after her death in a Consumed state. I fought any Klaxosaur that crossed my path, Conrad or Super Lehmann class, it did not matter. If they stood before me, they died. Next question."
"Why? Why do you still fight? That kind of pain should have broken you." Nana asked.
"Payback. They took my world from me, I plan on taking theirs. Anything else?"
All was silent.
"Alright then. I need to go confront my squad. If anything happens tell me." He said, he then walked toward their wing.
Bracing himself he walked through the door to find a still hallway. Crossing his arms, he took a deep breath and, in a perfect impression of their drill sergeant, shouted,
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MAGGOTS THINK YOUR DOING? GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Five bodies immediately shot out of their doors and stood at attention. "YES, SARGENT!"
They stood there for a minute looking at him. "3…2…1…and"
"REAPER?!" They shouted. "there it is." Reaper thought.
A/N: This must be my longest chapter yet. 18 pages, almost 7 thousand words without the author's notes and translation. So, for the Consumed state, it's a state that is only achievable if the individual feels nothing but absolute rage. It is extremely overpowered, so I won't be using it often. For those wondering what happened to the Klaxosaur, well…*looks over at a crater with eviscerated Klaxosaur spread everywhere.* …let's just say it is very dead and leave it at that. On that happy note, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!
*Rough Translation: Thank you master, for providing us with the offering before us. Thank you for granting us another day on this earthly plane and blessing us with eternal life. We vow to continue serving in your name until you grant us the Eternal Rest. May our loyalty never waiver. Amen.