Darling in the FranXX: The Reaper Squadron
Chapter 16: The Garden
It's been three weeks since Reaper woke. It had taken all that time for Reaper to heal from being run through. Owl had torn into him for leaving medical while being injured and forced him to go back until the nurses released him. There were no Klaxosaur attacks in those three weeks, which Reaper found suspicious. The others took it as a welcome break, but Reaper's soldier senses were screaming that something was wrong. Something was about to happen.
Currently, Reaper and his squad as well as Squad 13 were standing at the edge of the Birdcage staring out at the snow. For Squad 13, this was nothing new, they saw snow all the time at the Garden. For Reaper 1, however, it was a rather novel thing. They did not see snow much, due to working in warmer areas and the rapid desertification caused snow to become nonexistent in all areas except those close to the poles. Hence, Reaper and his squad looking about with interest.
"Hey, where is it? I don't see it at all." Miku said.
"Are you sure you saw it?" Ikuno asked.
Ikuno had, somehow, ended up snuggled next to Snake. Reaper was still trying to figure out how that happened, one moment she was next to Futoshi and the next she was snuggled next to Snake. Oddly, Snake was not complaining about the invasion of personal space. Reaper had the suspicion that those two were an item but was still trying to figure out when it happened. Maybe when he was still unconscious? Reaper swore that he and Cypress had a thing going on, though.
"I definitely did." Goro was saying.
"Reaper, is this you and your squad's first time seeing snow?" Hiro asked.
"No." Cypress said still looking around, it was snowing quite the blizzard outside the dome. "We weren't deployed to many snowy regions while we were on duty, and when the desertification began, snow vanished from all areas not close to the poles. So, it's still rather interesting for us."
"Hey Ichigo, a few weeks ago, when we were attacking that collective Klaxosaur, why were you guys ignoring me and Owl?" Reaper asked.
Ichigo hung her head at the reminder and everyone else looked ashamed.
"It was my idea. When the boys told us what you did, it scared us Reaper. The fact that you nearly killed Mitsuru really scared us. It didn't help the fact that Owl defended what you did. At the time, it didn't make sense as to why you acted the way you did. So, I thought that, if we ignored the two of you, you would take back what you did. Obviously, that didn't work."
"To be fair, my squad did warn you. When it comes to Havana and ignoring my orders, I can become quite angry, as you saw. If we hadn't lost our temper however, all that would have happened was, that we would isolate ourselves and have nothing to do with you in return." Reaper said.
"What are you guys looking for anyway?" Raven asked.
"I see it! Over there!" Futoshi shouted.
Off in the distance, Reaper could see a walled city. It had 30-foot walls with defenses scattered around it. It was the only city that Reaper and his squad had seen that was still in operation.
"Goro was right. That's…" Ichigo trailed off.
"Yeah. The Garden." Hiro finished.
"The Garden? Isn't that where…" Reaper thought before his eyes narrowed. Reaper's squad was confused by Reaper's sudden anger until he said,
"Vats."
They immediately understood and looked at the Garden with hate.
…
The Garden was easily the size of the plantation. It had two building inside of it as well as an artificial forest and lake.
"That over there is the Garden, its where hundreds of children are. Its where we were raised. And that tower we are approaching is the research hub, we call it the Lab." Hiro said as they walked.
Oh, how Reaper and his squad wanted to rip this facility apart. They knew that somewhere in the Lab or the Garden is where the vats the children were grown in were.
"I saw the Lab every day from afar, but I'd never gone inside before." Miku said.
"Very, very few children got to come here, right?" Kokoro asked.
"I think Hiro came here a few times." Futoshi said.
"Yeah, I was designated a special research subject back then." Hiro said.
Hiro now knew why he was treated that way and he glared hatefully about the lab, Zero Two clinging on to his arm. Reaper and his squad, sensing the fear rolling off the two, had gathered in a defensive circle around the two. Something was telling Reaper that something very bad was going to happen and happen soon.
"Listen up, the reason we are here is to run tests on you all. I'm sorry to say, this will not be a homecoming. You are hereby banned from entering the Garden." Nana said to Squad 13.
"Tests?" Ichigo whispered.
"What kind of tests would require us to come here, of all places?" Goro whispered back.
Nana turned to Reaper and his squad, who had tightened their defensive circle around the two love birds.
"Reaper, we would like to run some…" Nana started to say before she was cut off.
"No." Reaper said.
Nana then nodded, knowing better than to argue with Reaper.
"Code 002, you will undergo very through testing. You too Code 016. We have been unable to examine you since you changed," Nana said, sending a small glare at Reaper who glared right back, "and we are going to take the opportunity to do so while we have specialized equipment."
Zero Two opened her mouth to retort but Nana cut her off.
"This is an order. We can't put this off any longer."
"Nana." Reaper warned.
"Oh hey!" A voice said.
Reaper quickly turned, and his frown quickly turned into a snarl, Nine Alpha.
"If it isn't Nine Iota." Alpha said.
Reaper quickly connected the dots and glared at Alpha all the harder. Alpha began to walk forward.
"Fancy running into you here. What a coincidence." Alpha said, he then saw her glare and stopped walking. "Or not. You're here for maintenance too, right?"
"Maintenance?" Reaper thought. He then remembered that she had Klaxosaur blood and, by extension, so did Hiro. "Her genetics must be unstable. Human and Klaxosaur DNA are very different, but she and Hiro haven't been having any issues, so what is really going on?"
Reaper then decided to speak up, tired of being ignored.
"Well if it isn't a blond asshole with a rod stuck up his ass."
"Hello to you to barbarian. I heard you lost your temper a few weeks ago, tisk, tisk. As a squad leader, you should always keep a level head. Where is that beautiful flower?" Alpha asked.
Squad 13 and Nana and Hachi slowly backed up.
"I'm over here prick." Owl said, glaring at Alpha while putting a hand on Reaper's shoulder.
"Keep it up, and you will be on the receiving end of that temper." Reaper muttered.
"Reaper, who are these guys?" Ichigo asked, Alpha's head whipped toward her before locking eyes with her.
"These assholes are the 9's, Papa's chosen squad of elitist pricks." Reaper growled glaring at Alpha. "Try it fucker, I'll rip your arm off."
Alpha bowed to Squad 13. "Pleasure to meet you. You guys are in the same squad as Iota, right? Please escort her to you-know-where safe and sound."
Reaper sent an eyebrow at Nana and Hachi.
"We will explain later." She said.
"Anyway, I'm relieved to see Iota is fitting in with you guys." Alpha said.
"Her name is Zero Two." Hiro said.
"Hmmm. You're her pilot correct? Long time, no see. It seems she inflicted her disease on you. A shame." Alpha said.
Owl and Crow had to restrain Reaper from summoning Harvester.
"I was surprised, I thought she would be too much for an ordinary squad to handle. How did you manage to tame her?"
Zero Two was lightly growling at this point. Reaper was loudly growling and was having to be visibly restrained at this point.
"Zero Two is one of us." Ichigo said, causing Zero Two to look at her in shock, she did not think that she thought of her that way.
"Wow, she must have really taken a liking to you. Never thought she would play buddy-buddy with humans."
"I see the 'special forces' haven't been taught basic etiquette. I fully realize now that I would rather fight with Zero Two than fight with you."
Alpha laughed. "I see. You all are very different from the other parasites." He then walked toward Ichigo. "So that's why Iota is with you."
Alpha then grabbed Ichigo's hand. Then, with a smirk, he kissed her hand, causing Ichigo to turn beet red.
Reaper's eyes flashed red and Alpha was forcibly yanked away from Ichigo, but no one could see how.
"It's time to go children. R-01, you and your squad stay here. Code 002, 016, you come with me." Nana said.
"I've developed an interest in you guys, too. I would love to be a part of your squad sometime." Alpha said as they walked away.
"Sadly, we only have space in the attic. It wouldn't befit elites like you. But if that is ok, your welcome anytime." Ichigo said as she walked away.
"Code 002, 016, now." Nana said, as the two love birds had yet to move from the protective circle Reaper and his squad had made.
"Go on you two. Remember, if you are in danger, touch your palms and run." Reaper whispered to them before sending them off.
"Nana, my warning stands." Reaper said, and she nodded nervously, and the group walked out, leaving only Reaper 1 and the 9's.
"We will be taking our leave as well. Do keep your temper in check barbarian." Alpha said before walking out, the rest following except for Delta and Epsilon.
"We apologize for Alpha's behavior. He is under a lot of stress because of the upcoming mission." Delta said and the two bowed to Reaper 1.
"Go you two, and tell that prick if he tries that again he will lose his arm." Reaper said and the two walked out.
All was silent for a moment before a nearby desk was wrapped in shadow and crushed.
"I look forward to the day I can bury Harvester into Alpha's neck." Reaper said glaring at the door Alpha left through.
…
"All those tests were relatively simple. They could have been easily done at the plantation." Goro said as they reentered the reception area.
They found Reaper 1 standing in various shadows, seemingly asleep, aside from Reaper. Reaper was glaring so hard at a plant it looked like he was trying to set it on fire, and given the nature of their powers, he might actually be successful. Miku looked out the window toward the Garden.
"I wanna go visit the Garden." Miku said.
"Well then, why don't we?" Reaper said, turning his attention away from the unfortunate plant.
"We can't, we're banned, remember?" Goro said.
"Nana only said you were banned. She said nothing about entering with an escort." Reaper said with a sly smile.
13 looked shocked.
"You would…." Ichigo asked.
"Indeed. You all look like you want to go, and we are interested in where you grew up." Crow said, not opening his eyes.
…
As they entered the Garden, Reaper and his squad were immediately disgusted. The children were kept in groups in boxes. The rooms, aside from the library, were a uniform 30 by 30 box. One was a playroom, one was a sleeping quarters, one was a dining hall, and one was a library. All isolated from the main hallway by inch thick glass and metal reinforced doors.
"This is no way to raise children." Cypress whispered to her squad in shock and anger.
"Hey Reaper, over here." Owl said with rage on her face.
They went down a long hallway and ended up in a large room with large vats. Looking inside, Reaper and his squad could see several fetus's growing in a blue liquid.
"This is inhumane." Snake said in horror, while he was all for advancement of science, there are certain lines that were never meant to be crossed.
Shadows began to wrap around one of the tanks. Reaper had a hand open ready to crush it. Reaper 1 would not have stopped him, those children deserved a better life than the one they were going to be forced into. However, the shadows dissipated, and Reaper lowered his hand.
"No." He said closing his eyes. "We do this the right way. Slaughtering children before they are born makes me no better than Papa. End the war first, then we come back and obliterate this facility."
Reaper opened his eyes. He then dropped to his knees as his hand burned.
…
Meanwhile
Hiro and Zero Two were lead down an endless series of hallways. Zero Two was clinging to Hiro's arm for dear life, afraid of where they were being taken.
"Don't worry love, remember, we are protected." Hiro muttered in her ear, causing Zero Two to relax.
Their trip soon ended at a nondescript door. They walked inside and found a room that was filled with light. There were lights on the floors and ceilings, the were even on the walls.
"What the hell?" Hiro muttered.
Then Dr. Franxx walked into the room.
"Separate them." He ordered, and the guards moved forward to separate the two.
Both Hiro and Zero Two activated the Kanji on their palms and a weak shadow shield appeared. It was quickly destroyed by the guard's rifles and they grabbed the two.
"Shadow protection is only useful if there are shadows within the space. In a light filled room like this one, such protections are weak. Now that R-01's protections are dealt with, we can begin testing. Take them away." Dr. Franxx said.
The two were pulled away from each other toward separate doors by the guards.
"Darling!"
"Zero Two!"
Before they lost sight of each other, they felt an insurmountable amount of rage, but it wasn't coming from either of them. They both looked over to a corner of the room where a modicum of shadow existed. There, in the shadows, were a pair of burning red eyes, watching as they were taken away.
…
Reaper hit his knees and gripped his hand. The protection Kanji showed up on his hand and was burned away. His eyes were covered in shadow for several minutes before clearing.
"Reaper?" Raven asked.
Reaper then punched the floor, leaving a crater, his eyes were burning red.
"Back to the Lab." Reaper growled, standing, the shadows within the room were warping.
"Reaper, what happened?" Crow asked.
"Hiro and Zero Two have been captured by the doctor. He figured out that shadow spells don't work without shadow and tricked them to use the shadow shield I gave them in a light filled room."
"What about Squad 13?" Cypress asked.
"Leave them. They won't be harmed, only given a lecture for disobeying orders."
They walked out of the Garden and were half way back to the Lab when they ran across the 9's.
"Now, where do you think you're going?" Alpha asked.
"To the Lab, now get out of our way." Reaper growled.
"I'm afraid you can't return to the Lab right now." Alpha said, as he and his squad settled into defensive positions.
"I don't have time to deal with this." Reaper said, and his eyes flashed, but nothing seemed to have happened.
"What was that supposed to do?" Alpha mocked.
Reaper and his squad then began to walk past them. Alpha turned to stop them but found he couldn't move.
"What the…" Alpha said.
The rest of his squad tried to move as well but couldn't budge.
"What the hell did you do to us?!" Beta shouted at them.
"You can't go anywhere without your shadow, it constantly follows you around. Don't worry he will release you once we are done." Snake said without turning back.
…
As they approached the front doors of the lab, Reaper cocked his head sideways as if listening to someone.
"We've been granted 20% removal. Master recommends long range." Reaper said.
Cypress and Snake summoned their miniguns while Crow and Raven summoned their Deadshots. Only Reaper and Owl summoned their scythes, after all shadow blades are very deadly, close range or not.
"Owl, Snake, and Raven, you take the eastern half of the building. If anyone gets in your way, kill them. Cypress, Crow, we are going to take the western half." Reaper said.
Several shadow monsters crawled out of the shadows and entered the vents.
"The shadow scouts will see if they can find them from the vents. If you find someone who you think might know something, interrogate them. Go." Reaper said.
The two groups then split off to their respective sections. Heaven help any guard who crossed their paths.
…
Squad 13 were sitting in the lounge listening to the explosions. Shortly after being ditched by Reaper 1, they were caught by some of the guards and sent back to the plantation. Just as they were about to receive a lecture from Nana an explosion rocked the building, causing guards to flood into the room and take up defensive positions. That was an hour ago, and the explosions were continuing.
"Where is Reaper and his squad?" Zorome asked.
"I have a feeling they are the ones behind all this." Ikuno answered.
Over the sound of the guard's gunfire and the explosions, Ikuno could hear the occasional *crack* of a sniper rifle or the *wirrrr* of a minigun spinning up.
…
Nana was worried. What had the Doctor done to earn Reaper's wrath? After they had delivered Hiro and Zero Two to the guards, they had been dismissed and told to return to the children. When she had found out that Reaper had taken them to the Garden, she was pissed. When she had learned that Reaper and his squad had hightailed it back, however, she became worried. Hiro and Zero Two were still undergoing testing as far as she knew, and by the sound of it, Reaper and his squad were carving a path through the building. Reports said that they had entered the building armed and had split into two groups and were systematically searching the building. What had Reaper found or felt which caused them to go on a murderous rampage in the building? What had the Doctor done?
…
Reaper was floating, and that's not a good thing. When Reaper is levitating on his own, that means he is pissed beyond belief. He and Owl had received information from a kind guard as to the whereabouts of Hiro and Zero Two, that guard was now dead. Reaper was carving a path through the building to reach Zero Two. Literally. Reaper no longer worried about taking hallways, if there was a wall in his way, it was removed. Cypress and Crow were dealing with any guards foolish enough to come into sight, although as soon as they caught sight of his floating form, they quickly tried to run away. Only a few foolhardy few tried to shoot at Reaper, they were quickly consumed by shadow monsters. As Reaper obliterated yet another wall, he felt he was approaching Zero Two's position. The Doctor, fortunately for him, was with Hiro and did not have to face Reaper. Owl tended to be more level headed than him about things like this, but that didn't mean he was going to be spared a thrashing.
…
Zero Two was in excruciating pain. Physically she was fine, they had not done anything to her but the usual tests, checking her YBC as well as giving her booster shots to keep her stable, but she could feel the agonizing pain they were putting Darling through. They were putting her Darling through the same torture that they had put her through, though how she felt his pain she did not know. She needed to get to Darling but every time she tried to move they would zap her. She had felt tremors running through the building from time to time, but she hadn't thought much of them, until the wall in her examination room imploded. She had never been happier to see an angry Reaper in her entire life.
"Reaper!" Zero Two shouted.
As he walked over to where she was strapped to the table, Cypress eliminated everyone standing in the room. After a quick slice from Harvester Zero Two was free, she attempted to stand but due to the number of shocks she received, her muscles would not respond.
"I got you." Reaper said as he stopped floating.
He picked her up bridal style and they began to walk to the exit.
"Where is Darling?" Zero Two asked.
"Don't worry, Owl is going to get him, that Doctor won't be getting off easy." Reaper said as they walked down the hall. "He's damn lucky it's her he is dealing with and not me." Reaper thought.
…
"Fascinating." Dr. Franxx said.
He was examining some shavings off of Hiro's horns while further tests were going on behind him.
"He seems to be a perfect copy of Zero Two. The crystalline structure of his horns is the same as hers as well as his regeneration abilities. But how? The only possible solution is the blood he ingested as a child but that should have been flushed from his system years ago. How has his body structure altered so much in so little time? There's something else at work here and I am determined to figure out what. Perhaps it was due to the constant exposure to her that caused it?"
Dr. Franxx's ramblings were cut off at the sudden presence of ice spreading within the room.
"What the…" The Doctor said.
"Sir?" One of the technicians asked as the ice covered the equipment causing it to fail.
Following the trail of the rapidly spreading ice, it led to the far-left wall, which was nearly incased in ice.
"Who…?" Dr. Franxx started to say before the wall shattered as Owl, Snake and Raven walked in.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" Owl said, her voice as cold as the ice that was continuing to spread.
"Cryokinesis." Dr. Franxx muttered.
"Not quite, but close." Owl said as she advanced toward him. "But you didn't answer my question."
Dr. Franxx turned to run but found his feet incased in ice, it was slowly spreading to cover his body. He looked at Owl in fear.
"Don't worry Doctor. You will be fine. My ice is special in that, unless I want you to, you won't get frostbitten."
She gestured over to where the technicians were turned into frozen statues. At that point, ice had incased the room and Raven was able to free Hiro by punching the frozen bindings that were holding him in place.
"My ice is also unique in the fact that, I can control where it goes and what it freezes, which is why you are being wrapped in ice and Hiro is not." Owl said. "I wonder how long it will take for that fake arm of yours to fail in subzero temperatures? Or maybe I should freeze your limbs one by one and see how much pain you can withstand."
Dr. Franxx was now covered in ice up to his neck but it grew no farther. The ice in the room however, was approaching 3 inches thick.
"Tell me, Doctor, have you ever experienced frostbite?"
Dr. Franxx felt a pins and needles sensation in his right hand.
"That sensation you are feeling right now? That is the feeling of your cells being torn apart as the ice pierces them, causing irreparable damage. It will take a while, but eventually, the nerves and tissue in that hand will die, it's quite a painful process if not treated." Owl said.
The pins and needles sensation began to travel up his arm.
"It is quite unfortunate that you ended up with me. Had Reaper found you, he would have thrown you to the shadow monsters, while you would live, you would be severely injured by the time they were done with you, as well as never be able to sleep without a light again. With me however, you are in for a long, slow, and painful retribution for what you've done." Owl said with a sinister grin, this was however shattered by her communicator going off.
"Owl, Zero Two secured. Status?" Reaper asked appearing onscreen.
"Hiro secured. I was engaging in some…information gathering, from the good doctor." Owl replied.
"Leave it for another day Owl, return to base." Reaper said.
"Aww your no fun." She pouted and ended the call. "Oh well, looks like we will have to finish another time, Dr. Franxx." Owl said.
Dr. Franxx began to panic as the ice covered his head, turning him into a frozen statue like the others. The ice thickened around him until it was 5 inches thick.
"That should take them a while to thaw him out. Let's go you three." Owl said.
"Owl, you can be quite scary, you know that?" Hiro said.
"Why, thank you!" she said with a smile.
…
As they entered the foyer, all heads snapped toward them. The guards raised their guns, but they were suddenly disarmed by their own shadows and restrained.
"Zero Two!" Hiro shouted and ran toward Reaper who was still carrying Zero Two.
"Darling!" she shouted as Reaper set her down, she was a bit shaky, but she could stand.
As the two embraced, Nana walked over to Reaper and his squad, it was hard not to notice the bloodstains.
"Reaper, what did…" Nana started to say.
"Nana, don't ask that question." Reaper interrupted. "You don't want to know what it is we did."
"Reaper, there will be consequences for what you have done here." Hachi said.
"Let them try. They can't harm us, and they know it." Raven said.
Nana pursed her lips. "Let's head back to the plantation."
…
Nana and Hachi were watching the screen in the command center. It was showing 5 horse like Klaxosaurs racing toward the plantation.
"Five Moho class Klaxosaurs. They are not much of a threat but…" Nana said.
"The question remains as to why they showed up here." Hachi finished.
"No Klaxosaurs have been sighted in this area before."
"So how did they get here? And what are they up to? We have never seen these types before."
A console in front of Hachi beeped.
"Orders from Papa, we are not to send Reaper 1. Punishment for what happened in the Lab."
They won't take this well."
…
Nana was right, Reaper 1 did not take it well at all, they were lucky there wasn't any nonvital equipment within the room, Reaper would have crushed it.
"Fine, we will say behind. But, if they are in danger of being overwhelmed or they approach the Garden we will interfere." Crow said, orders from their master superseded Papa's after all.
"I highly doubt that will happen." Nana said.
As Squad 13 raced forward to engage the Klaxosaurs, Hiro felt that something was wrong. The Klaxosaurs were paying no attention to them.
"Guys, am I the only one who feels something is off here?" Hiro said.
"What do you mean?" Goro said.
"At this range, the Klaxosaurs will have usually noticed us due to the high concentration of Magma Energy our FranXX have. But these ones are totally ignoring us." Hiro said.
"I'm sure it's just coincidence." Zorome said.
As the group prepared to engage the Klaxosaurs did something odd. They dodged around them.
"Huh?" Argentea said.
"After them!" Delphinium shouted and began to pursue, the others following.
"Damn they are fast!" Argentea said, they were losing ground, and losing it fast.
Then in the distance they saw the walls of the Garden appear.
"Faster you guys! They are headed for the walls!" Genista said and began to pour on the speed but it wasn't enough.
"No!" Strelitiza said as the leading Klaxosaur was preparing to breach the wall.
The Klaxosaur was suddenly cut in half, a fountain of blue blood appearing. Reaper and his squad then landed in front of the wall, only then did the Klaxosaurs stop.
"Reaper! What the hell is going on?" Delphinium asked.
"I don't know. You guys take care of the rearmost ones, we will take care of these." Reaper said as the Klaxosaurs began to charge.
The Klaxosaurs were easily dealt with but Goro noticed something strange. Unless they were directly attacked, the Klaxosaurs ignored their squad, choosing to focus on Reaper and his squad.
"That was too easy." Black Rose said.
"Reaper, why were they focusing on you guys?" Genista said.
"I don't know." Reaper said slowly. "You guys head back to the plantation, we are gonna stay out for a bit."
"Negative, Reaper. You weren't supposed to go out to begin with. Return to base." Hachi said.
As Squad 13 headed back to the plantation Reaper zeroed in on the command's channel.
"Hachi, something is not right here. You don't send 5 Moho classes to attack a place like the Garden, the exterior cannons could have easily handled them, but they did not fire when they began to approach the walls. Something is off here, and I have a feeling that they were just scouts. We are going to stay out for a bit just to be sure."
"Fine, you have one hour." Hachi said and closed the connection.
…
Half an hour later, Reaper saw snow flying on the horizon. As the cloud approached, it parted to reveal a Gutenberg class Klaxosaur, similar to the horse ones from earlier, walking at a dignified pace toward the Garden.
"I knew it. They were just a vanguard." Reaper said.
"A cocky one isn't it?" Lotus said.
"Indeed." Crow said.
"Black Rose to command, come in command." Reaper said.
"What is it R-01?" one of the communications officers replied.
"Inform Nana and Hachi that there is one Gutenberg Klaxosaur on approach to the plantation. Approximately 19 clicks (12 miles) out and closing."
"Understood R-01. Do you need Squad 13's support?"
"Negative."
"Understood. Command out."
Black Rose summoned Nightmare and waited for the Klaxosaur to approach. A few minutes later Hachi's voice sounded over the comms.
"Reaper, status?"
"Target is 8 clicks (5 miles) out and still on approach. Preparing to engage. Variant seems to be similar to the ones from earlier." Reaper could hear Ichigo and Alpha talking in the background. "And tell that arrogant asshole if he lays a hand on Ichigo I will rip the offending arm off."
Hachi couldn't help but chuckle. "I will. Take no risks Reaper 1, this one seems too full of itself to be similar to the others."
"Understood." Reaper replied, and they advanced.
…
As Reaper 1 approached the Klaxosaur, it stopped moving and seemed to be watching them. Once they got within a few thousand feet of it they stopped as the Klaxosaur bowed to them. Black Rose looked at the others in confusion, and Lotus just shrugged. They turned back toward the Klaxosaur and bowed back. It then nodded and settled into a defensive stance.
"A Klaxosaur with honor? This is new." Crow said, there was no mistaking what just happened.
"That's not possible, they are mindless beasts, aren't they?" Raven asked.
"Focus. We deal with one issue at a time." Black Rose said.
The battle continued as normal with no further oddities occurring. It wasn't until Reaper stabbed its core that the Klaxosaur began to act strangely again. It locked eyes with Reaper, seemly looking through Black Rose and straight into Reaper's eyes. It then bowed the best it could in its current state before collapsing. Some type of file was then uploaded to the FranXX.
"Shit." Reaper began to try and isolate the file in case it was a trojan, but he didn't make it. A message popped up on the console before Reaper.
"Hello, love." Was all it said.
Data then began to stream across the console and Reaper quickly set it to download to his communicator in an isolated folder. As Reaper read the information as it flew by, Reaper's face settled into one of rage. He isolated the comms to just his squad for a moment.
"Reaper Alpha, we've been had." Reaper said, throwing away the designation given to them by that liar.
"What are you talking about Reaper?" Snake said.
"Everything we were told by APE was a lie. The Klaxosaurs are a sentient species. Those cores we've been destroying? They are the members of the Klaxo-sapian race that have converted themselves into biomechanicals. The Magma Energy we have been using? That is the souls of their dead, they give life to the Earth. We have been committing genocide this entire time, with every Klaxosaur we've killed." Reaper said.
Reaper Alpha was disgusted with themselves. For years they thought they were on the right side of this war, that they were defending humanity against those who sought to kill them for simply existing. They had been played by Papa like a damn fiddle.
"What do we do Reaper?" Black Rose asked.
"First, we cycle our power source for the FranXX to full Shadow Energy, eliminate all traces of Magma Energy from the FranXX. Secondly, master's word is law. He gave us an order, we follow it. If the children go out on a mission, we go out on a mission. Any orders from that liar are to be ignored." Reaper said, he then sent the information that he had obtained from the Klaxosaur to the others and opened the channel back up.
"Reaper 1, respond!" Nana shouted.
"We are alright Nana, just had some comms trouble. The Klaxosaur was carrying some type of virus. It attempted to upload it to the FranXX's systems when I stabbed its core. It's been dealt with." Reaper said.
"Are you sure?" Hachi said.
"I'm sure. It's been isolated and destroyed."
"Very well, return to base." Hachi said.
"I want those cores cycled tonight." Reaper said on a private link with his squad.
A/N: Dun dun dunnnnn. Reaper and his squad have finally learned the truth. What will Papa think when he hears about this? And who sent that data with the Klaxosaur in the first place? These questions, and more, will be answered in the next chapter. Anyways, as always, reviews and criticism are greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows. Ciao!