A/N: To those confused by the last chapter, Rito is not dead. He rather died a metaphorical death, which is hopefully explained a bit more in detail following this chapter. Enjoy, and as always:
Disclaimer: I do not own To Love Ru.
Later That Day
Lala had been returned to her room, after meeting Not-Rito, the one who called himself Adam. She had refused to eat with him, after learning that he planned to have her as his bride, after seeing him strip his own daughter of her emotions. She had taken her food with her, of course, and now she sat, locked and alone, in the room provided to her. With a knock at the door, the hooded woman from earlier enters her room, trailed by the little girl with the doll that was clearly inspired by Celine. "I've come to check up on you, Lala, and deliver lunch to you," the hooded servant states, "Manami wished to see you too, so she followed me here as well." The blue haired girl smiles, the gap in her tooth showing in the precious smile. "She's unaware of what her father did to Uwe," the woman whispers to Lala, as she takes the empty platter and replaces it with the one in her hands, "So please, try not to upset her, she's still too young to understand."
Lala doesn't know how to respond, but she smiles as the little girl tries valiantly to climb up onto the large bed Lala was sitting on. "Come here!" Lala states, holding out her hands to grab the child by her waist, "Let me help you up!" The little girl giggles and runs to Lala, before being hefted up and onto the bed, holding the Celine doll tightly to her chest. "My my, who is that?" Lala asks, fishing the child for information, "She's so pretty, she reminds me of someone I once knew, did your mommy make that for you?"
The child merely giggles and hands the doll off to Lala, who takes it and notices the intricate detail and the similarities. "Hewr name is Celine-chi, she was one of my Aunties, but Mama said she died," Manami states sadly, standing on her knees on the bed, and grabbing Layla's shoulder to hold on to, "Aunty Mikan sewed it for me!" Lala hears the crash of metal to the floor, as she turns to see the servant picking up the spilled container. "Papa treats Aunty Mikan like a s-s-savant, but Uwe told me the twuth!" Lala turns to the little girl as she speaks again, and the little girl leans in to whisper to her, "I fought she was my Aunty anyway, she gave me Celine-chi, and Aunties always give their n-neic-nice's gifts!" The girl smiles, before peeking over Lala's shoulders at the woman, who is picking herself up from the floor.
Lala turns and calmly regards the woman who is standing a little ways away from her. Tears prick her eyes, as the reason why the servant looked so familiar comes to light. Sighing the woman sets down the platter, and walks over to where Lala was sitting with Manami. Sitting on Lala's other side, the woman pulls down her hood to reveal the familiar, if slightly older, face of Mikan Yuuki. She smiles as Lala gets a clear look at her for the first time, tears at the edges of both their eyes. "I'm sorry, Lala, but I didn't have the heart to tell you," Mikan states, "There's so much that's gone on in the past nine years- Lala, the universe has changed so much without you..."
Lala merely cries into Mikan's shoulders, happy for a friendly face and voice she could talk to. "Mikan- what happened, why aren't we on Earth, and why are you a servant?" she asks the younger Yuuki sibling, "What happened to me, and why is Rito calling himself 'Adam'?" The Yuuki sibling gives a thin smile at that, before getting up and grabbing Manami and placing her on the floor. She pulls something from her pocket, before sprinkling it on Manami. The young girl sneezes, before changing in a literal poof of air. In the younger girls place, is a young boy with orange hair and red eyes, who smiles at Mikan, and frowns at Lala. He also frowns when he sees he still is wearing a dress, and with but a thought, the clothes seem to convert into casual boys clothes.
"Thank you Aunt Mikan," the boy states clearly, before turning to Lala, "Nice to meet you Aunt Lala, I suggest you seek your answers quickly, Manami won't hesitate to spill your secrets to Father, so I will take my leave." Bowing the serious looking five year old, who surprises Lala with his almost business like attitude, then leaves the room and the two women alone.
"That was Takumi, he's Manami's twin, they're both Run's child," Mikan states, looking just a bit wistfully at the door before turning back to Lala, "Don't worry, they aren't Rito's, or Adam's, the clothes are nanite-infused; Run got into a bad situation a few years ago, and ended up pregnant and dumped by some groupie that only wanted to get into her pants..." Mikan sighs, and puts a hand to the side of her head. "Adam married Run, making her one of his secondary wives, and gave her and the children a home," she continues, "Manami loves Adam like he was her own father, Takumi on the other hand, is more like Uwe in showing his dislike of Adam, not after he... saw, some things." Mikan doesn't elaborate, but Lala can tell that whatever happened, caused the young child to hate the man who took them in as their father.
"Mikan-" Lala states, wanting to get back on track, "What happened to Rito?" Mikan looks at Lala, with a look that tells her that she had been trying to avoid this subject. that was probably why she was trying to stall for time, not knowing, or even wanting to explain what happened to cause Rito to change so drastically.
"He wasn't always this way, you know," Mikan states, sighing, "Things happen, in the third year of high school that caused Rito to... be different, obtain a unique power over Dark Matter; an enemy of ours gains control of an ancient, parasitic life form, and attempt to have it take over Rito, only for it to cause an explosive reaction..." Mikan smiles, as she realizes that Lala is staring wide eyed at her. "Yes, well, it ended up with Rito ending up with some serious recovery time in the hospital, but afterwards he...changed," Mikan continues, no longer smiling, as she thinks back to those darker days following, "He began to show increased strength, he somehow gained unparalleled swordsmanship, but he also became quick to paranoia; once we tried to take his special sword away, he almost couldn't part with it, stating he had been 'learning' so much from him." Mikan notices that she caught Lala's attention at the last bit.
"Oh, yes, he referred to the blade as a 'Him', even gave it a name," Mikan says, scornfully laughing, "I'm sure you could probably guess it, after all." Lala cocks her head at that, and Mikan decides to come out with it. "Before he chose the name Adam, Rito once called his sword by that name," Mikan states, "Bladix, the name of the parasitic sentient that inhabited the sword, had died trying to take Rito over, but he ended up having passed on knowledge to Rito before he died; we don't know if this 'Adam' came about from that, or because of your... untimely death, but we should have seen the signs that things were going to take a turn for the worse..."
Nine Years Prior
Mikan had been out of the area, thankfully, with Nana, Mea, and Nemesis as her protection. She had lost sight of Celine in all the confusion, only to find the little seedling had stowed away with Rito once he had left to fight Azenda. Now, here she was, staring at the rubble of her town and house, her ruined neighborhood burning or crumbling around her. Rito was on his knees, cradling Layla's dead body, torn between the loss and the desire to bury her. Momo stood by him, gripping his shoulder, and crying at the sight of her dead older sister. Mikan saw the carnage around her, Kuro was dead nearby, along with the ashes of whom she hoped was Azenda the Tyrant. She quickly found out what had happened to Celine, when she approached Rito and Momo, and joined her brother in his mourning.
They had just lost their family, after all, their home, their neighborhood, their very town. All Rito had now was his sister, and she him in return. Even Lala, the one she had seen as her older sister, the one she had hoped against all odds that she would be the one to marry him, was gone. Momo, Nana, Sephira, and Gid had all lost their eldest sister and daughter, with Rito losing his fiancée. Mikan had lost a daughter in Celine, her friends, and no doubt others among the wrecked town that once was the center of their lives. The world was hollow and meaningless now, and all the three had now, was the comfort from being together on such a sad day.
After seven freshly dug graves were made and filled, Mikan, Rito, and Momo all stood over the marked resting places of their loving family and friends. "What do we do now?" Mikan asks, "Where will we go, without Mom and Dad, or Lala." Rito tried not to cry, he really did, but he swings the sword I to the scabbard on his back.
"We go home, Mikan," Rito states, "I don't know quite where it is, but we'll find it." Mikan merely nods, before Momo gently stoops to the youngest Yuuki siblings level, and goes for a hug.
"You'll all be coming back with me," Momo states, "Father and Mother need to hear what happened, you'll be safest if you come back to Deviluke with Zastin, Nana, and myself, as well." Rito merely nods, and Mikan cries sorrowfully into the Devilukean hybrids shoulders. They had lost so much, and the effects would span years into the future. Together they walked off towards their future.
Within Rito's Mind
'Do you feel it, Yuuki Rito?' a callous, tinny voice asks, 'Our harmony, our duet?' The small blob of darkness does not expect a reply, not until it was ready. He had to begin somewhere, after all. 'I am slowly taking you apart, piece by piece,' the voice states, 'And then I will rebuild you, rebuild us, into a perfect whole, You and Me, shall become We...' The voice drifts, and the internal form of Yuuki Rito, his inner self, his psyche, does not feel the binding chains of darkness, as they tighten around his very soul. He does not know it yet, but already Rito has become his puppet.
[I]Eight Years Prior
Rito Yuuki, as he was formerly called, married Momo Belia Deviluke some months afterwards, much to the surprise of all involved. It had seemed the two found comfort in each other, despite the once held animosity between them. Of course there was little fanfare, as they officially became the heirs to the throne of Deviluke, and chose to have their honeymoon on a mudball planet in the lesser visited places in space. Mikan had found that absence made the heart grow fonder, and on her trip home to Earth, she found this feeling true of the blue jewel hanging in space. A year had gone by, she only wondered how the world had moved on in their absence.
Instead of a land glistening blue, it appeared that the world seemed more gray, more barren than it had ever seemed. Since joining the galactic community, it seemed that Earth fell by the wayside. Progress had not been made on social issues, the environment was continually degrading without regulations being placed on consumer markets, technology was being hoarded as war became more and more common with resources being depleted, as the whole world feared the revelation of a bigger, scarier universe beyond their world. Mikan could only cry as she skimmed the intranet from Earth orbit, seeing these truths all the more becoming real to her. She turned and found Momo and Rito, arm in arm, walking together into the ship's observational lounge, where Mikan begun her search.
"Mikan, it is time," Rito states, "Now you see why the Galactic Police recalled all on-world aliens, and banned travel to Earth after the Sainan Disaster last year; the Earth needs help." Mikan can't help but look at Rito and Momo, observing their expressions. Rito is cold and calculating, as much as it seemed to have ever been since losing Lala, and Momo likewise conveyed little beyond pity for the state Earth found itself in. "Do you see, now, why we must do what we can?" Rito states, swaying his hand over the surface of Earth through the window, "This can all still be saved, still be allowed to grow." Mikan merely stands and walks over to her brother, and in an act of heartbreak, hugs him in a tearful embrace like she did one year ago that very day.
"Yes, I understand," she states back, bitter tears rolling down her cheeks, "But they will say no, we both know that..." Rito nods, as Mikan steps back from the hug. "At least find what friends and family we have down there, give them a chance to join us!" she states, pleadingly, "If worse comes to worse, they will at least be safe among us, here in this ship." Rito nods, and steps away from Momo, putting both of his hands on the window's guardrail.
"It has been done; Kyouko, Run, your old friends, Saki Tenjouin and Aya, Mikado-sensei, everyone who survived the Sainan massacre, even Yuu and Akiho, were brought aboard," Rito calmly states, "Now, we can begin." At that, the view screen was filled with the Devilukean armada Rito brought with him, granted by request from King Gid. "Let the new era for Earth begin, kindled by the hope of peace," Rito states, to his two observers, "Or let it begin within the fiery ashes of the old world, and let Humanity begin anew." Mikan merely watched as a new day dawned over the Earth, one led by the soon-to-be King of the Deviluke Empire, a Son of Earth himself.
-
'Do you see it, Rito?' the voice in the Darkness asks, as he squeezes his blackened tendrils deeper into Rito's cracking psyche, 'A new world order, brought about by our own hands!' What once was Rito was little more than half a man, his whole lower half totally consumed by shadow, the cancerous growth having also consumed his forearms like living manacles. There was no light, no resistance in the former Yuuki Rito, his psyche having been subsumed by the newly birthed malevolence brought forth from within him. 'You will see, Yuuki Rito,' the Darkness states, 'All I do has been to bring about your inner desires, the secret dreams and lofty goals you dream of fulfilling; that she, dreams of you fulfilling...' The barren consciousness of Rito does not respond to his captor.
The First Anniversary of New Earth/Seven Years Prior
Mikan sat next to Momo, as she cried her eyes out. The pink haired Empress of the new Devilukean order, ruled by Rito, cried into her sister-in-laws shoulders, sobbing heavily after having confessed her grievous sin. 'Does he know?" Mikan simply asks in response, "You can't ever tell him if he doesn't know..." Mikan might have thought the old Rito would have been forgiving, loving, understanding even. But that was the old Rito Yuuki, the one who loved and would never have harmed anyone. Not the monster who slew King Gid after he confronted Rito within the radioactive ruins of planet Earth. Mikan had heard it would take hundreds of years to decontaminate the Earth, even with all the advances in technology space faring cultures had to offer, and that was before the damage Rito and King Gid caused in their battle.
This being the same King Gid who had sent the universe top five assassins against him as a test. One of them was even a Lycanthrope of Alpha Canis, who had been gifted an ancient Orichalcum tail handed down through his Clan for generations, crafted by the same man who created Bladix and Hades. A tail that Rito now proudly wore as part of himself, signifying how far he had fallen from his humanity. Mikan knew this savage, yet civilized, new side of Rito had been troubling, and Mikan did not know how mercurial his temperament could shift.
"He doesn't know the child is not his," Momo quietly whispers, "He was so happy when he found out, I didn't even know how he knew..." She huddles into a ball and cries some more. Mikan comfortingly put her arm around Momo, trying to console her as best she could. Meanwhile, from a crack in the doorway, golden-amber eyes peer in from the darkness of the sleeping kingdom. In a blink of an eye, they were gone.
-
Within Rito's Mind
'You will not regret your sacrifice, Rito Yuuki,' a voice says in a small corner of his subconscious mind, 'We have another opportunity to set things right, to make sure everyone in the universe does not have to suffer like this...' The blackness grows and envelops him further, the mental construct of Rito shackled by it and unable to respond. 'I will use your power, Rito Yuuki, and I will birth a new world for you; a paradisiacal empire that will not suffer the loss and betrayal you have felt,' the malignant voice, the voice of Darkness, speaks within his mind, 'You will be my puppet King, and together we will become the first born of a new galactic order...'
The strands of shadow grip tighter around Rito, sucking more knowledge, leeching away his personality, more and more into its control, searching for an idea, a name to go with this new concept it was feeling. 'Ah, yes, a new name will be needed when we reveal our new self,' it bubbles out giddily, 'Adam; that is what we shall be called, a fitting name, for a new paradise needs its caretaker.'
One Year Prior
"And so, on the sixth anniversary of my rise to power, I have decided to broadcast this message to the whole Milky Way Galaxy, and other subjective galaxies within Deviluke rule," the newly armored form of King Yuuki states to his followers galaxies and stars apart, "Today will mark a new day for the former Deviluke Empire, as it sheds its former being and adopts a new way of life!" He raises the hand of his newly proclaimed wife, the galactic idol Run Elsie Jewelria-Yuuki. "As I welcome my newlywed wife Run into my family, along with my loving wife Momo, so too do I usher in a new era for a new Galactic Order!" he states triumphantly, "No longer will the name 'Rito Yuuki' strike fear into the hearts of many, for his Empire is dead; No, I proclaim myself by my new title: Adam, for I will take care of you."
'Adam' smiles, as he places a helmet onto his head, completing his new look and sealing himself away in the process. "Long Live the newly christened Deviluke Imperium, a government dedicated to the prosperity of its people," 'Adam' shouts to the universe with his newly distorted voice, "Let it hold dear the universal goal of sharing love and order within it!" Galaxy wide, it was said on that day the thunderous roars of applause shook worlds to their cores.
That would also be the last day the universe would be at total peace. Adam, and his newly named Deviluke Imperium, would face threats from extra-territorial invaders, civil unrest from the heart of the empirical throne world, and the newly reformed terrorist organization naming itself 'Eden', after the original terrorist organization that was hunted to extinction almost twenty years prior.
Back to Lala's Future/Present
He did all that, married Momo, he conquered the Earth, killed Assassins and my Father, and became a galactic ruler?" Lala states, shocked by the abject horror of it all, "How could he become such a monster?" Mikan merely shrugged, not having an answer to her question.
"It's quite simple, my dear Sister," a new voice interjects, as they turn to its source, "Rito Yuuki has been overtaken by the very sword he used to conquer with." Lala can't help but notice the bags under her sister's eyes, the haggard appearance hidden by makeup to the universe at large, but easily visible to the one who knew her the best. "I always knew in my heart that Rito Yuuki could never truly change, but it took me years to gather the evidence that could prove it," Momo states, holding up a tape, "I need you to do something for me, Lala..." Lala watches as she places the tape in the hand of Mikan. "Take Mikan, take Uwe, and run; run to Deviluke, to Nana, and she will help you," Momo states quickly and quietly, "She will take you in, give you enough political cover to escape the Harem King that my husband has become, and find a way to return to your Rito!" Mikan doesn't know what to say, and neither does Lala, before they find Uwe barging in the door.
"I've got the escape vehicle ready, it's loaded with the Pyon-Pyon Warp Drive you had me install," she states, looking harshly at Lala as she speaks, "We can leave this, leave him, all behind and meet Father by morning light!" Momo smiles sweetly at her daughter, before stooping down and hugging her tightly. "Mother?" Uwe states, more than asks, "You aren't coming with me..." Uwe pushes off from her Mother, and stares at Lala and Mikan, before seeing the case being held by Mikan.
"I'm sorry, but there's no time to argue," Momo states, pushing them all out the door and towards the hanger bay, "Save my little girl, Lala, get Mikan to Nana, and for all the gods of the universe's sakes, keep Rito from becoming this monster!" Suddenly Momo feels a hand close around her shoulder, and she finds herself staring into the glowing eyes of her husband's armor. "You're too late, Adam," Momo states, before hawking a wad of spit into the man's faceplate, "Whoever you are, I found out that you aren't my husband, just a mockery of who he was..." Adam merely wipes of the spit form his face plate, before removing the helmet all together.
"Well, girls, I don't know who she is, but it seems that our intruder has turned my loving wife against me," Adam states, "I will put my wife into the infirmary to have her checked out, but please, keep our guests from leaving the hanger bay; emergency protocols can be engaged by your voice commands, after all." At that three pairs of eyes blink into existence and vanish in the darkness,leaving Momo feeling abject horror at what he had just unleashed on his own sister, his daughter, and his ex-fiancee.
"You'd unleash them on your own daughter, on your own sister?" Momo states in outrage, "Lala is right, you have become a monster, if you're willing to send you assassins against three innocent women..." Adam merely smiles at Momo, a disapproving glare on his face as he sneers at her.
"Oh please, like the daughter of a harlot such as yourself is fit to be mine!" Adam states, and Momo opens her eyes wide, finding that she was caught, "Oh, yes, I've known ever since the beginning, my 'dear' wife, and I waited for you to tell me, but now it seems it is too late for apologies...this poison has run its course, and now its time to treat the infection!" Momo feels helpless, as Rito begins to drain her life force from her very body, extracting all the hatred, anger, and the pain. Crackling darkness glows in his hands, a hellish purple energy formed from his hatred. Closing his fist on it, the flame recedes to be stored within him. He would need it soon, it would seem. Dragging the unconscious form of his wife over his shoulder, Adam makes his way to the infirmary.
Meanwhile
In the hanger bay, Uwe, Mikan, and Lala all rush into the ship Uwe had prepared for them. After a few moments of starting the engines after sealing the doors, they began to try and initiate the departure sequence. "Why isn't it working?" Mikan asks Uwe, "The hanger bay doors aren't responding!" Uwe nods, and looks into a bunch of various monitors and screens.
"Emergency override codes have been initiated," Uwe states, "In case of a siege, they lock up tight so no enemy ships are able to force their way into the bay; we'll have to blast out way out!" Suddenly Uwe freezes as she looks into an external view screen. "Shit!" Uwe says, "The three faces of darkness have been unleashed!" Mikan looks up at Uwe, and stares at her with open eyes.
"He didn't!" she states in disbelief, "Fire everything, before they attack!" Just as she was about to, Uwe noticed that they were currently missing a person. "Where's Lala?" Mikan asks, "Where did she go?" Just as they were about to panic, or die after being attacked by Rito's top three weapons, the static of the engine room intercom cut to life.
"Sorry Mikan, Uwe, I just had to admire your engines!" Lala states from the lower room, "I happened to overhear that they had a item I'm familiar at working with installed, so hang onto your hats!" Mikan quickly sat down and buckled up, much to Uwe's confusion, but she too buckled. "The flights about to get a little rough," Lala states, laughing as she does so, "Activate! Pyon-Pyon- Warp-Kun DX!" After flash, and the warp of space time, an empty hanger bay was all that was left inside the hanger. Two shadowy figures, one red and one fair haired, stare in confusion at their missing member. The ship, and one of their own, was gone!