Chapter Twenty-Six: What I've Kept Hidden

You're late! I was about to give up on you, Rubedo,'' Albedo said in an excited voice. He grinned at Shane who had an angered look on her face. "Take a look. This thing has a full belly already." He pointed to the reactor's core as he jumped down to the floor where the group was. "Well then, what shall we do now? Shall we continue where we left off?" The white-haired man held out his arms, a red/green light eminating from his body.Jr.'s eyes widened at the light and stepped back. "Wh-what is that? Are you…how are you doing that…?" Albedo chuckled evilly. "Don't be so surprised; this is the power of will, a fundamental power that exists within everyone,'' he said. "What you are witnessing is simply your perception of it. And you know what? Perception and pain are but one and the same. So…go ahead… Feel my pain for yourself!" He sent a shockwave at everyone, sending them flying back against the door. KOS-MOS pulled out her blaster and fired off two rounds which hit him in the gut. He laughed, rehealing in the process. Albedo grabbed the blue-haired android's arm and threw her into Ziggy who was running at him for an attack.

''KOS-MOS!!'' Shion cried out then growled at the white-haired man. ''Take this!'' She moved her hand in front of her, blue letters written in a lost language as she seemingly grabbed the letters and put them on her red M.W.S. attached to her arm. She steadied herself and pointed the end at him. ''Spell Ray!'' She yelled, firing a powerful explosion which engulfed him. He turned to her as he held out his hand. ''Shion, look out!'' Shane yelled only to see Shion fly back into Jr. who caught her. The silver-haired girl rushed at him, shooting at Albedo and dodging his energy-based attacks. ''Kirschwasser Shane,'' he crooned. ''You came with Rubedo. Are you drawn to him like ma peche is?'' ''Like hell I'm drawn to that red-haired brat!'' Shane felt a cold chill run up her spine and jumped back from the white-haired psycho. She held her chest tightly, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

The hell...? What's...wrong...with...me?

''Heh. I do believe I've figured out what you are, Kirschwasser Shane,'' Albedo said walking over to her. He held out his hands as chaos' and MOMO's attacks bounced off him. ''You're similar to me and Rubedo, even ma peche for that matter. But tell me this...'' He kneeled down in front of her. ''Aren't you from Lost Jerusalem?'' Shion lifted herself off Jr. and looked to Shane. ''...Shane..is that true? Are you really from Lost Jerusalem?!'' The girl's golden eyes dimmed some then cried out in pain as Albedo brought her to her feet by her hair.

''Yes, the girl from Lost Jerusalem--our homeland that vanished!'' ''Albedo! Put her down right now!!'' Jr. yelled and shot him twice in the back. KOS-MOS rushed at him, kicking him in the back of the head. He dropped Shane as he growled lowly at the android. She managed to get away, tears streaming down her face. MOMO and chaos ran over to her. ''Shane--!'' ''Get back!!'' The pink-haired girl stopped as chaos knelt down beside the silver-haired girl. ''I lied...I've been lying to you from the start,'' she said through heart-wrenching sobs. ''All this...all of this is only a game in my world...''

''A game?'' MOMO asked as Shane nodded slowly. She watched Shion, KOS-MOS, Ziggy, and Jr. fight against Albedo then lowered her head. ''...Yeah...I was gonna tell you after all this but...'' chaos held her shoulder and smiled at her. ''You were only looking out for us, weren't you?'' Shane looked up at him as she nodded slowly. ''Yeah...'' With chaos' help she stood up watching as KOS-MOS delievered the final blow and knocking Albedo back against the reactor. "Answer me!" Jr. yelled at his white-haired counterpart. "Why are you doing this?! There's absolutely nothing you can hope to gain out of this." The white-haired man chuckled under his breath and looked up at him. "Au contraire. I…am doing all this…for your sake, Rubedo."

"For…my sake…?" "Have you forgotten, Rubedo? That fateful day, fourteen years ago… Have you forgotten what you did to us?!" The red-head tensed up as more of his haunted past came to light. "It's all because of you… Because you closed yourself off from us, our mental link was broken, and one after another, we succumbed to the power of the Song,'' Albedo said angrily. "Left behind in that horror, did we have any choice but to submit to it? Remember what happened…and repent for your sins!"

Jr. looked down at the floor, wincing at the pain at the memory where he emitted flames and knocked out the U.R.T.Vs. "It's true I… I mean…" The white-haired man laughed maniacally. "So you finally admit to it, you coward!" "All right, damn it! I couldn't control my fear!"

"Jr.…?" Shion looked to the boy who was shaking, his fists closed tightly and his head lowered. "Yes! And therefore, you must atone for your sins, atone with your life! I am the executor for all those who were destroyed! Although… I'm actually grateful to you, Rubedo. Thanks to you, I alone was able to find the way… The way to a whole new world." Jr. looked up at him with confused but angered eyes. "What do you mean, a whole new world?"

"That's all that I seek… It's quite simple. Don't you think?" Albedo asked him. "...What the hell are you talking about?" The white-haired man jumped up to the top of the reactor, laughing insanely. "At first I wasn't sure if I should believe… But I experienced something a moment ago that confirmed it… And this ought to verify that experience for me. Entertain me, if you will!" He said as the reactor opened up to reveal a hideous monster. The group was taken aback at the horror, Jr. narrowing his blue eyes. "Damn… You fused the Gnosis…with the reactor…?!"

"You must first destroy this in order to stop Proto Merkabah. You do realize that…'' Albedo looked at an imaginary watch on his left wrist then said, "Oh, almost forgot the time! Hmmmm, not much left nooow… I'd say five minutes, at best. I wonder how far you'll get in your current condition? Do you think your Kirschwasser is in any mood to fight?" He laughed maniacally. Shion looked back at Shane who looked pitful as she cried. Shane...you didn't want to hurt us...but ended up hurting yourself... "He's so cruel… He's tormenting Jr. and Shane just for fun… "

"Farewell. I'm sure we'll meet again, if you survive… Rubedo, my other half…and Kirschwasser Shane..." The white-haired man vanished as Jr. began to run after him. "Albedo!!" "Jr., look out!" MOMO yelled.

"Wha?!" The red-head ran headfirst into a barrier which sent him back against the floor. He looked up to see the monster coming out. "Damn it… We have to destroy this thing first!" Ziggy gripped both of his cybernetic hands tightly closed. "Right, this takes priority,'' he said. "Be careful, everyone! That's no longer just a machine!" chaos said as he went into a fighting stance. He looked to Shane. "All right! Let's do it, KOS-MOS!" "Affirmative. Switching to maximum output for all combat systems,'' the blue-haired android said as she switched to maximum output mode. ''Shane, please stand and fight..'' ''...I can't,'' she said. ''When and if we defeat this thing...I'll disappear! I wanna stay here with you guys! I--!''

''You have a family back home, don't you?'' Jr. said as he looked back at her. ''They're waiting on ya, right?'' She looked down, gripping her fists. ''Yeah, of course they are...but what's the point if they don't even care about me?!'' In Shane's mind, Rukia slapped her across the face. You idiot! Of course they care! Didn't you see in the Encephalon?! She held her face as she watched the others fight against the monster she knew as Sophie Peithos. Yeah, but...they act like nothing's a big deal...it's like I'm not even there, Shane said to Rukia. Why don't you talk to your Mom when you get back, then?

''...Yeah.'' The silver-haired girl pointed her gun at the monster and smiled.

Bang.

Chapter 26: End (Mrr...exciting chapter, ne?)