REGENERATION
Chapter IV: Kampf der Elfen
Takao Kanbe strode through the hallways of the UN building in New York, the man's large body an imposing figure among the traffic that the building usually ferried. Kanabe was a picturesque figure of a military man, well-built with clean cut hair, heavily greyed from his age, and piercing eyes that hid any discomfort he felt being here, so far away from Japan. Still, he had reason to stay. The Prime Minister had entrusted him with the future of the nation and that future hedged on the formation of the ADDF. Those creatures had done too much damage to his country to be met with sympathy.
Entering his temporary office, the space actually belonging to the Japanese representative of the UN who had offered it to him while the General was in New York, he seated himself on the stiff chair behind the desk. Kanabe unfolded and booted up his laptop, waiting a second for the device to boot up before going through the monotonous task of scrolling through emails – of which there were many – and responding where he felt necessary. His speech had no doubt turned some heads and the messages of both praise, hesitance, and disdain from various persons of power and media outlets were proof of that.
The desk was sparsely occupied, save for a bundle of newspapers, many with headlines of his speech from the day prior "Japanese General Calls for Diclonious Headhunter Force" one read. "Crazed Warmonger Wants Prolonged Conflict" read another. And who could miss "A Man Who Isn't Afraid to Tell it Like it Is: The Genius and Legacy of General Takao Kanabe." It amused the General just how many ways different people spun his speech.
One other thing took up space on the desk. It was one of the few things that Kanabe had brought with him to New York, or anywhere for that matter. A lone picture frame held a photo of a Japanese woman late with child accompanied by a burly man with short cropped hair, both with carefree expressions and holding each other lovingly.
The General's attention diverted from his work towards the picture, as it often would. Despite the painful memories associated with the picture, he kept in anyways. Maybe as a reminder to himself of why he did what he did.
And as usual, those memories began to surface. The excitement of that woman, his wife, as she showed him the results of a pregnancy test. His utter shock at the fact that he had been able to get anyone pregnant at his age. She had refused ultrasounds, wanting the gender of their child to be a surprise.
He remembered how excited she was each day through the pregnancy, even through morning sickness and back pains that came with the extra weight.
Of course, then he would remember of the complications during birth, something had caused internal bleeding, and the doctors had had to perform a C-section to save the child. He remembered how the doctors, realizing they wouldn't be able to stop the bleeding and had instead given his wife her newly born child to hold in her last moments. She had died with a smile on her face, gladly trading her life for that of her child's.
And then he would remember taking the child, a girl, into his own arms; the only link to his now dead wife. Seeing her unusual hair color and the protrusions peeking out. He had paid little mind to them at the time, only wanting to hold the child close, being scared that it would be taken from him as quickly as his wife had.
He remembered how he would wake up the next day to find out his child had indeed been taken away, being told little else other than she was unhealthy and had to be quarantined, an explanation that he knew was bullshit. The child had been fine when he had held her the night before. He had been told he needed to receive a vasectomy because he was infected with some virus. He had wanted to raise a fit, but even a man of his position couldn't do anything against the authority that these men held.
Kanabe grit his teeth at the recollections. No matter how much time had passed, the pain the memories brought never dulled. Forcing himself to turn away from the picture, the General resumed his monotonous task of sorting and replying to mail.
Lucy stared blankly as the man accompanying Mayu shouted at her before quickly jumping back, taking the girl with him in what could almost be described as a protective stance.
"Mayu, get the fuck out of here!" He yelled, reaching underneath his jacket and grabbing a high caliber pistol. "This bitch is mine."
"Mister Bando, wait!" Mayu yelled out, but her voice was overpowered by the discharge of the mercenary's weapon as he fired a quick succession of tungsten slugs at the diclonius. He smirked, the gun was his ace in the hole. No diclonius was able to stop these.
Lucy found herself with a mixture of amusement and surprise. She finally remembered where she had seen this man before, they had 'sparred' on multiple occasions, if you could call it sparring. Still, she was surprised that the man was alive. The last time they had fought Lucy thought she had left him for dead. Obviously she was wrong.
The thoughts quickly changed to annoyance when he pulled out a gun. Obviously he believed he was safe from her vector's reach at that distance. To be fair, the last time they fought he would have been. But Lucy had developed quite a bit since then.
And so when he fired she simply deflected the bullets, noticing the extra strain it took to stop them compared to conventional weapons. Lucy assumed that meant they were those 'extra special' bullets he had gloated on and on about last time. She felt no small amount of satisfaction at the fact that they were useless against her now.
Bando was much less satisfied with the outcome. 'That bitch, she stopped them. How?" He grew even angrier at the realization. She had grown stronger since their last bout. 'But if she's grown stronger, then…" The revelation came to him just as he heard the hiss of air being sliced in half as one of the diclonius' vectors flew towards him. 'Shit, this is it, isn't it?' He stood his ground, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of seeing him cower.
Lucy shot a vector at him, and sliced right through his gun, before recalling it back to herself. "You've got to do better than that if you want to kill me." She simply stated as she started walking away.
When Bando realized she hadn't killed him and had instead only destroyed his gun, his fury grew further. "Don't fucking play with me!" He yelled, unholstering another identical pistol. 'Bad move, turning your back on me,' he smirked as he fired another volley of shots.
Lucy heaved a sigh as she heard the chambering of his second gun. She had expected it, but it still disappointed her. As with the first round, she stopped the bullets, causing them to fall lifelessly to the ground with a solid thud. Then she shot another vector out and tore up Bando's second gun. Turning towards him with a look of annoyance she slowly walked to where he stood, the mercenary still in awe of what had had seen her do twice.
"Look, is there anything else you want to try?" Lucy stated, her eyes slits as she stared down the man at least two heads taller than her, though who right now looked meek in comparison. "Because obviously that plan isn't working." She pointed at the pieces of gunmetal littering the yard.
"Mr. Bando," Mayu spoke up, finally breaking out of her state of shock at the confrontation. "Lucy's a friend, please don't be mean to her." The ex SAT soldier momentarily diverted his attention from the diclonius towards the younger girl, seeing her pleading look.
At that moment, Kouta, Yuka, and Nozomi came out into the yard, worried by the commotion and the loud sound of gunshots. Lucy, hearing the sound of footsteps turned towards the sound and when she saw Kouta realization dawned on her. She had used her vectors, would Kouta hate her for that? Her mood darkened quickly as she started withdrawing in on herself.
"Hey, what's with all the commotion out here?" Yuka was the first one to speak up as she looked in between Lucy, Bando, and Mayu. Lucy, still overanalyzing every second of what had just happened didn't pay attention at all, and Bando was too indignant to respond, just turning his head away and letting out an agitated grunt.
That left Mayu, and when she realized that neither of the other two were going to say anything she gave her explanation. "Mr. Bando was walking me home, and when we got inside, he saw Lucy. I guess they don't have the best history so he thought she was a bad guy and tried defending me," the phrasing earned another disgruntled noise out of Bando. "So Lucy used her vectors to stop his weapons."
Then Mayu turned to Bando, "But Mr. Bando knows that Lucy is a friend now, right?" When he didn't respond she tugged on his jacket, trying to get him to turn and acknowledge her. "Right?"
Bando did turn and looked down at the girl talking to him. The old Bando would have probably slapped someone who dared touch him so familiarly, but he simply glared at her through his glasses. "Yeah, whatever." He replied before turning away again, trying to maintain some semblance of pride.
Lucy numbly made her way to Kouta, her head hanging the entire way. Kouta looked at her curiously, trying to discern what she was doing. She remained quiet for a moment before finally whispering to him, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry? For what?" Kouta scratched his head in confusion.
"I- I used my vectors." She replied, still not daring to look at him. Kouta was even more confused.
"Yeah, so what?"
"B-but I promised. Promised that I wouldn't use my power anymore." Lucy remembered how he had looked at her that night. When she had betrayed him and attacked Kurama right after promising to never use her vectors again. She remembered the hate in his eyes, how lowly she was to him in that instant. She was afraid of that look. She didn't want to see it again.
"Lucy," Kouta said, placing his hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "I meant I didn't want you to hurt anyone again. But you used your power to defend yourself. I can't fault you for that." The diclonius looked up at him, surprise and hope in her eyes.
"Kouta…" Lucy hesitantly wrapped her arms around him, vaguely aware of the audience around them but not caring. She wanted the comfort of being close to him.
Kouta however, was well aware. His face brightened considerably as he dodged his head everywhere but at the young woman clinging to him. He caught Nozomi's embarrassed look; the girl was probably just as embarrassed of witnessing the act as he was of receiving it. Then he saw Yuka's gaze, a mixture of shock and horror, maybe even anger.
It looked like his cousin was going to speak up, but before she could, a loud knock came from the door. Carefully detaching himself from Lucy, Kouta made his way to answer the door. At the entrance was a short old man.
"Hey, what's with all the noise!?" the man questioned accusingly. Kouta then became aware of the fact that the entire neighborhood had probably heard the scuffle.
"Eh, well you see…" Kouta frantically tried thinking of an excuse. Then the metaphorical light bulb clicked. "Well, we were just trying out some fireworks. Wanted to see how well they work." He hoped the man would buy the excuse.
"Fireworks?" the guest stared him down, before shaking his head. "Well keep it down, it's not even close to the summer festival so there's no reason for that." With that he excused himself, muttering something about impolite young kids these days.
Kouta gave a nervous laugh in response and replied that they'd be sure to be more careful in the future before sliding the front door closed. Turning to the group that had gathered in the yard, Kouta was suddenly struck with a thought.
"Hey, where's Kurama and Nana?" Surely they would have been concerned by the commotion as well.
"Oh, Mr. Kurama said he needed to go and speak to a friend about something. When Nana heard she made sure she went with." Mayu replied, seemingly the only one who knew their whereabouts.
"Huh, that's strange. I thought he didn't have any meeting scheduled." Kouta shrugged it off. Kurama was an important man in this day and age. It wasn't entirely out of the question that something sudden would come up.
"So, Arikawa, what's your take on it?" Kurama asked the now famous scientist while nursing a still warm cup of coffee. It was a nice change of pace from the tea that Nana always gave him. Not that her efforts went unappreciated, he was just a coffee man was all.
"It's not Lucy, there's no question," the woman sitting across from him replied, having long since drained her own cup. Uncrossing her legs, she got up to pour herself a fresh cup. Making her way from the chair behind her luxurious desk, she made her way to the coffee pot that she had in her office. "Lucy died in Kamakura, autopsy confirmed it was her."
Kurama nodded quietly, contemplating. "Yes I'm aware, but the resemblance is uncanny. The mannerisms, the way she acts around others, even her memories are a perfect match. Is it possible, maybe, that diclonius have some ability to regenerate from near fatal circumstances?" Kurama was throwing ideas at the wall trying to find something that would stick. He knew Lucy should be dead, but there was no way the woman at the Maple Inn wasn't Lucy. He had come to meet his former, now dead friend's assistant turned world renowned doctor in hopes that she could shed some light on the diclonius queen's apparent resurrection.
Arikawa shook her head, walking back to her desk with a fresh cup of coffee. "No, it isn't," she sat back down at her desk. "While it's true that diclonius can heal faster and recover from graver wounds than humans, we both know they can't regenerate their entire bodies. Look at Nana." Arikawa pointed at the quiet girl sitting on a couch to the side in her office. The diclonius perked her head up at the mention of her name, having been keeping herself busy while the two others discussed matters that she honestly didn't quite understand.
"She was able to survive having all of her limbs amputated, but she hasn't grown them back. Something like that just isn't possible." Kurama nodded again. He had figured as much, but still, there had to be some explanation.
The two remained silent for a moment, both lost in thought. "Unless… maybe…" Arikawa was suddenly struck with a thought. Eyeing Nana cautiously, not exactly trusting the girl with her theory, she leaned over the desk, and whispered a theory to Kurama. The man's eyes widened considerably at her hypothesis.
"No, you think that bastard would do something like that?" Kurama's fist clenched at the thought. He didn't want to believe it, but it made sense. It explained how Lucy could have died, yet still have surfaced from the ocean seemingly at random. It explained why Kakuzawa would so easily order Lucy to be executed, even though he was adamant about the diclonius queen being essential to his plan. But it didn't explain one thing.
"But then, how does she have memories right up to the day she died?" Kurama asked. If Arikawa's theory was correct, it didn't explain that one oddity. The doctor pondered for a moment.
"During my time working with Kyoju on the vector virus vaccine, we spent a considerable amount of time mapping the diclonius genome. While it's obviously nearly identical to the human genome, there were numerous differences. Genes that created the larger penal gland, of course, ones that gave them their unique eyes and hair. But there were also some gene patterns that were remarkably similar to those found in species with hive mentality, like bees or ants. It helped explain how diclonius could feel each other's presence and we theorized that large groups of diclonius might even be able to interact and share knowledge with one another in a similar fashion to how these insects do.
"We were never able to confirm this theory for obvious reasons, but if it was true, it could be possible that Lucy and all other diclonius are able to share their memories and experiences with others of their kind." Arikawa concluded.
"That – that's a little bit much, don't you think?" Kurama finally responded. "I mean, if it's true the all the pieces fall into place, but even so, don't you think that's a little far-fetched?"
Arikawa sighed, she knew it sounded like quite the extrapolation. But even so, after all she had experienced working for both the Kakuzawa's, she'd seen stranger things. "I admit it's a little out there. But considering we're talking about a race that literally has invisible arms, it's not the craziest thing in the world is it?"
Kurama pinched the bridge of his nose in deep thought. "I guess there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Arikawa nodded, understanding his train of thought.
"Yes, we'd have to go to the Research Institute."
"Or what's left of it," Kurama replied. The facility had sunk into the ocean so trying to salvage any information they could would be difficult to say the least. Then he realized exactly what Arikawa had said. "Wait, what do you mean 'we'?" Arikawa just gave him a devious grin.
Yuka sighed as she made her way through the hallways of the Maple Inn. Luckily the situation between Lucy and Mayu's friend Bando had been resolved, the young girl seemed to have considerable sway over the larger man's actions and Lucy hadn't been too interested in fighting in the first place. In the moment though it was still nerve racking. When Bando had made a huff about being finished with business and leaving the inn shortly after Kouta had dealt with their neighbor, Yuka had been relieved.
But there was one other thing that had scared Yuka almost as much as the mercenary, how intimate Lucy and her cousin had become. As much as it pained the girl to admit it, the way Kouta interacted with the diclonius, how soft his gaze was when he looked at Lucy, it was nothing like what he shared with her. It almost made Yuka jealous, but more than that, it brought on a feeling of resignment, of defeat. Yuka was slowly starting to realize that she wouldn't be able to win her cousin over.
Still, there was one thing she had to confirm. She wouldn't give up her cousin without a fight. That was why she was in front of Lucy's door. And why, after steeling herself, she knocked.
"Lucy, are you in there?" Yuka asked. Her response was a slight shuffle before the door slid open, revealing the tired gaze of the diclonius queen. She had been hoping to finally take a nap after her bath, a nap that had been interrupted by Bando. Her eyebrows scrunched visibly as she tried to discern why Yuka would want to speak to her. "May I come in?" Yuka asked when Lucy said nothing. The pink haired girl eventually nodded before moving to the side to allow the other access.
Quietly, the two girls sat across from each other, Lucy still not sure why Kouta's cousin had come to her room and Yuka trying to figure out how to approach the topic at hand. Finally, she just came right out. "Lucy, do you love Kouta?"
The diclonius looked at the other girl in surprise, out of all the things she had expected Yuka to talk about, that hadn't been on that list. After a moment, Lucy quietly bowed her head, and whispered out a barely audible. "Yes."
Yuka, despite knowing that would be her answer, despite preparing herself for it, still felt the sting of hurt at Lucy's confirmation. Pushing down her feelings, she pressed on. She had to, for Kouta's sake. "And what would you do if he didn't love you back?"
Lucy grit her teeth, trying to suppress the sudden anger that had sparked inside her. How dare this woman try and insinuate something like that! Clearing her mind, Lucy thought the question through. If Yuka had wanted to get between them, this wouldn't be a very effective way, so her question had some other meaning. "If… If Kouta didn't love me…" just the thought was painful, but Lucy pressed on regardless. "Then I wouldn't get in between him and the girl he did love. I've caused Kouta too much pain to deny him that." Lucy finished, doing her best to quell her sadness at the thought.
Yuka let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Despite part of her wishing the diclonius would give any other reason for Yuka to resent the girl, she knew Lucy was being truthful. That left only one path to take. "Then I suppose I should take your words to heart," Yuka admitted to Lucy and to herself. "Kouta deserves happiness. If that happiness is with you, then I won't interfere."
Lucy looked back up, surprise evident on her face. Yuka just smiled at her. "What, you didn't take me for some cold hearted, meddling witch, did you?" She teased. "Just promise me one thing, don't let Kouta get hurt. He's been through enough already."
Wiping a small tear from her eye, Lucy nodded back, a small smile gracing her features. "Of course. I couldn't do anything less."
It was then that Lucy sensed it, a small nagging in the back of her mind that she had been ignoring. Quickly springing into action, she used two of her vectors to propel herself across the room, grabbing Yuka in her arms before using her remaining vectors to tear through the wall and escape from the room. Moments later a loud crack rang out as a stray vehicle exploded through the wall, crashing into the location Lucy and Yuka had been occupying a second ago.
Setting Yuka down, Lucy turned to face the source of the attack. Through the hole in the wall, she spotted a group of diclonius, at least six in total. Five of them were dressed in uniforms not dissimilar to the ones worn by the Mariko clones sans the helmets, while the last one, presumably their leader, wore a simple white sundress. She was the first to step forward and speak. "Why hello, Lucy. It's nice to finally meet you."
Lucy clenched her fists, eyes narrowing predatorily. Whoever these new diclonius were, they weren't friendly. That much was obvious. "Who are you!?" Lucy demanded of the girl.
The girl smiled, before flourishing her arms out in a grand fashion. "I am Lola, but you can call me your queen." Lucy had to bite back a laugh.
"My queen, huh?" Lucy brought her posture down in to a much more ready stance. "I think you may have the roles reversed." Turning towards Yuka briefly, she told the girl to grab the others and get out of the house. The stunned girl numbly nodded before taking off.
"What you think means little, especially since you won't be alive much longer." With a flick of Lola's hand, two of her followers sprang into action. Lucy used her vectors to push off to one side as a series of the other diclonius' vectors sliced through the air she had just occupied, slicing through the wall just behind. Solidifying her own vectors before she attacked, Lucy used them to deliver a series of solid punches to the two attackers. It seemed she had an advantage when it came to range, though that was to be expected. Though she lacked the overwhelming control over her vectors that she had possessed that night on the sea candle, Lucy was by no means a pushover. The number and range of her vectors had been progressively increasing ever since she had awoken on the beach.
The two hostile diclonius cried out in pain as they were assaulted, but didn't falter. Catching themselves, they mounted another assault. Lucy prepared to counter before her senses went off and she detected another two diclonius moving into position behind her. Quickly thinking, she tore open the roof of the building and launched herself up and on top. She had to get to a more open area. Her ranged advantage would mean nothing in the close quarters of the Inn.
Surveying the surrounding area, she briefly noticed Yuka, Nozomi, Mayu and Kouta running down the street. She briefly locked eyes with Kouta and grimaced. Again her presence had created chaos at the inn. She had to finish this quickly, for his sake.
Sensing the enemy diclonius positioning underneath her, she made a decision to take off towards the beach. If Bando was as methodical as she thought he was, it should still be litter free. An open space like that where the other diclonius didn't have weapons to throw at her would be the perfect venue for a fight, where their numbers wouldn't be able to trounce the advantages she had.
Using her vectors to grab onto the edge of the building, she got a running start before propelling herself forward across the city. The other diclonius would no doubt be fast in pursuit.
"Wait, how many did you say there were?" Kouta huffed out as the group ran.
"I don't know, at least six." Kouta came to a stop as he saw Lucy run on top of the roof before propelling herself through the city towards the ware. Soon after a group of diclonius, he did count six, took off after her. Kouta gulped. He knew Lucy was strong, but was she that good?
"Mayu, do you know how to get ahold of that Bando guy?" He didn't exactly trust the mercenary but at the moment they didn't have a lot of options.
"Umm, maybe. I have an idea of where he's staying…" Mayu replied, still shocked at what was happening.
"Good. Please talk to him and convince him to help Lucy. He's the only one who might be able to do something. Yuka, Nozomi, please try to get ahold of Kurama, see if there's anything he can do."
Yuka nodded, but then thought. "Wait, Kouta what about you?"
Kouta grit his teeth, he knew it was stupid but… "I have to go after her, make sure Lucy is alright." Yuka was taken aback.
"Wait, what? Kouta, against a diclonius you can't do anything!" She tried grabbing his arm but he had already started running off. "Kouta, wait!"
Regardless, he kept on running. "I know this is stupid of me…. But I can't just sit back and do nothing. Even if it's dangerous, I have to try. I'm sick of being a bystander!"
Lucy's bare feet touched down on the sand with a soft pat. Sensing the other diclonius still some ways a way she mentally grinned. If it was taking them this long to get here then they definitely weren't anywhere near her league.
Luckily it was a gloomy day out so the beach was sparsely populated. And the area she had landed on was even more secluded, there wasn't anyone around for a good distance. This arena would work out just fine.
As apprehensive as Lucy was about fighting, she didn't want to risk any danger coming to Kouta, or to anyone else who lived at the inn. Though these diclonius had undoubtedly came for her, she had no way of knowing if they would attack the others when they were finished with her.
Even so, she had made a promise to Kouta, so she wouldn't kill them. Just make sure they wouldn't be ready for a fight any time soon. A few broken bones should suffice.
It wasn't much longer before the pursuing diclonius caught up to Lucy. Landing a good 50 meters away from Lucy, probably wary of her potential reach, the two sides faced off.
"I'll give you one chance," Lucy called out across the beach. "Leave now, I don't want to fight you." The other diclonius, the one in the dress, just smirked.
"Lucy, that's just the problem. You don't want to fight," Lola stepped forward a few paces. "How can we as a species survive if even our 'queen' won't defend against those that oppress us?"
Before Lucy had a chance to retort, four of the guards jumped into action. Tracking their movements the best she could, Lucy shot her vectors out and intercepted all four, throwing them back an appropriate range. Two of them managed to land on their feet, while the other two fell onto the ground less gracefully, their bodies impacting the sand with soft thuds. They were quick to get up however, seemingly unfazed by it.
And again they attacked, and again Lucy intercepted. The four probed around the queen diclonius, seemingly searching for a blind spot they could exploit. All the while, Lola stood back with one other diclonius guard, seemingly content to watch from afar.
When another attack from the four failed, Lucy took the moment to retort. "You're not going to win like this, you realize. You might as well all come at me, or just give up." Lola just smiled. So when the four went in for another attack, Lucy threw three of them back, but grabbed hold of the fourth one's leg, using her vector to apply just a little bit of extra pressure, breaking the bone and causing the girl to cry out in pain, before throwing her ungracefully towards where Lola and the last guard stood.
That was when Lola finally moved, jumping towards the wounded diclonius and catching the girl in her arms. Whispering something into the guard's ear, she gently set her down. Lucy noticed a change in her composure. She seemed almost angry that the other diclonius had been injured. Lucy smiled, so the girl did have a switch after all.
Lola snapped her fingers and the other diclonius withdrew. Then she stepped forward. "So, finally going to take me on yourself instead of using your lackeys to do your job?" Lucy baited.
"You may have injured her, but my sisters preformed their jobs admirably," Lola's face became predatory, touched with anger and bloodlust. "They weren't attacking you, they were scoping you out. And now I have an idea of what your abilities are." Without moving, eight vectors shot out of the girl, towards Lucy. Her eyes widened slightly as she leapt out of the way. She had expected that girl to be more powerful than the others, but the margin was much larger than she had guessed.
Lola's vectors didn't stop pursuing as Lucy continually dodged the oncoming attacks. The girls range had to be 15 to 20 meters at least. Finally as Lucy jumped back, the attacking diclonius withdrew her vectors, before running forward and propelling herself towards Lucy.
Lucy cursed, landing on the sand before having to immediately dodge to the side as a series of Lola's vectors impacted against the ground with a resounding smash, kicking up sand and debris in a miniature explosion.
As Lola withdrew her vectors again, she surveyed the area. Lucy was becoming visibly winded from being on the defensive so much. She grinned. "You see, Lucy. I noticed something while you were engaging my guards. You never retaliated until they were within 10 meters of yourself. From there it's easy to guess that your range is limited to within that area." She shot her vectors out in a series of mock attacks again, which Lucy again avoided. "But as you see, my range is much greater."
Lola resumed her assault and Lucy dodged across the beach. As Lola continued her assault she drew closer and closer, but always careful to stay outside of that 10 meter range. She withdrew her vectors again and prepared for another barrage when suddenly something came flying into her chest. Lola coughed out, completely winded from the attack as she careened across the beach head. Lucy recalled her vector, taking a few deep breaths as she recomposed herself.
Lola wheezed as she regained her breath, before glaring at Lucy. What had just happened?
"You'd do well to not underestimate me," the diclonius queen gloated. "Tell me, did it never cross your mind that I wasn't taking this fight seriously? That that 10 meter reach was simply just me handicapping myself to see if you all could do anything?" The queen grinned towards the wounded diclonius, and shot another vector at the girl, this one reaching out close to 30 meters, shaving off a lock of the girl's hair as a warning.
Lola cursed as she realized what had just happened. Cautiously, she backed up to 50 meters, though now she wasn't sure if even that was safe. The waves were lapping at her feet as she considered her next move. She had expected the queen to be strong, but this was another level. And letting her guard down so carelessly, she was fooling.
She had one idea, she didn't want to have to resort to it, but Lucy was leaving her with little choice. Wordlessly she nodded towards her four remaining guards. Picking up on her thoughts, they took a ready stance. Lucy may be strong, but even she shouldn't have enough vectors to overpower five other diclonius.
Before they had a chance to spring into action, Lola noticed a boy running down the beachhead and grew even more irritated. She didn't need witnesses right now who might call the authorities and involve the SAT and their anti-diclonius weaponry.
Lucy noticed the boy too and swore. "Kouta, get away from here!" She yelled, but it was too late. She could already sense Lola's vectors shooting towards him. Without a moment to hesitate, Lucy sprang into action. She propelled herself across the beach, grabbing onto Kouta and throwing him as gently as she could out of the way. Lucy cried out in pain as the Lola's vector sliced through her side, leaving a sizeable wound.
Lola, meanwhile, looked on curiously. Why had Lucy just saved the boy? No matter, now the queen was out of commission for a moment. A moment would be all she would need to wrap this up.
Kouta laid paralyzed in shock, what had just happened? Was Lucy injured because of him? Not wasting a second, he scrambled to his feet and ran to her side. Lucy clenched her jaw as she struggled to get up, holding onto her side that was quickly oozing blood. This wasn't good. She had to make sure Kouta got away before Lola could do something to him.
Lola ran at the two, vectors poised to cut them into pieces when a loud crack echoed through the area. Milliseconds later the diclonius was sent spiraling to the ground. It wasn't until she looked at her arm, or the bloody mess that remained of it, that the pain registered.
The guard diclonius all looked at each other before nodding in agreement. They swiftly grabbed their leader and vacated the area before the unknown assailant could strike again.
Lucy silently thanked whoever had saved them before collapsing back down to the ground, passing out from blood loss. Kouta looked on forlorn, not sure what he could do. He brought her gently into his arms, trying his best to hold back the tears that threatened to spill. It was his fault, he knew it. Lucy had been doing fine before he interrupted, before she had to risk herself to save him. Choking back sobs, he tried to think of how to help her.
"Kid what the hell are you doing just sitting there, we have to stop the bleeding!" Kouta was brought out of his despair by the familiar voice. Looking up he saw Bando running towards the two, carrying a hefty rifle, the type you'd see used to punch holes in tanks and other heavy vehicles. Was he the one that had shot Lola and saved Lucy?
The mercenary wasted no time, kneeling down beside the two. "Take off your shirt," he ordered Kouta, who nodded numbly and followed the command. "Good, now bunch it up and press it against the wound, that'll slow down the bleeding. Just make sure to keep pressure on it." Kouta obeyed. While he kept pressure on Lucy's side Bando opened one of the pockets on his jacket and retrieved a roll of gauze. Using his teeth to tear it open, he wrapped it tightly around Lucy's torso, holding Kouta's blood soaked shirt into place.
"Alright, that should hold for now. Come on, we can take her back to my place and I can dress the wound better." Bando said. Kouta again nodded. Delicately, he picked up Lucy's limp body, carrying her with him as Bando led the way to wherever it was that he was staying.
General Kanabe reclined in his desk, having just finished replying to emails and authorizing/rejecting various proposals in relation to the JSDF. His rest was quickly interrupted by a phone call. With a grunt, he picked up. "Kanabe speaking."
A panicked voice came through the other end. "Sir, we have a problem. Diclonius sightings in Kamakura."
Fortsetzung folgt…
AN Sorry again for the long delay. This chapter kicked my ass. I couldn't figure out how to write a lot of it. I'm fairly satisfied now that I have gotten it out, and I hope any readers are as well. I completely bullshitted most of the sciencey stuff regarding diclonius hive mentality and such, hope it isn't too unbelievable. I'm admittedly not too versed in biology.
Silent Roar: Since you posted anonymously and I can't just PM you my reply I'll respond here. Yes, this fic will be finished. I may be lazy, I may procrastinate, but by God I will finish this thing. In all actuality I'm shooting for a nice and pretty seven chapters (excluding the prologue), so it's halfway there already. And as you can see, the stakes are being raised.
On a related note, this story may be getting a bump to M soon. The next chapter is probably going to get graphic. And finally, I need a name for the Saseba agent. She's going to be showing up soon and I don't want to just call her "The Agent" throughout the story. So if anyone feels like, leave a name and I'll consider using it.