Chapter V: Enthüllung

AN: Story has been bumped up to an M rating for some graphic content. Reader discretion is advised.

Kouta numbly ran after Bando, operating purely on instinct. All of his higher brain functions were preoccupied with what had happened at the beach, with what he had caused. Looking down at the girl in his arms, the pained expression that covered her face, Kouta's grief only amplified.

"In here kid!" Bando barked. Kouta looked up to see the soldier yank open the door to a rather run down flat. As Kouta entered their rescuer's home, Bando strode powerfully through making his way to the table in the center of the kitchen.

"Oh, Mr. Bando, you're back!" Mayu popped out, her face brightening up. In her arms was an equally excited Wanta.

"Not now, girl," Bando commanded. Gracelessly shoving the contents of the table onto the floor, causing various plastic dishes and metal silverware to loudly clatter on the ground, he motioned for Kouta. "Set her down here." The boy dumbly nodded, carefully setting Lucy's body down onto the table.

Meanwhile, Bando made his way to the bathroom, grabbing a field kit before returning to the kitchen. "Hey, Mayu, why don't you go out for a bit? Don't want the pup being scarred by the scene." Bando suggested, surprising even himself with how softly he spoke to her. Mayu quietly obeyed, whispering to Wanta and heading outside.

When Bando heard the door to his home click shut, he turned to Kouta. "Alright kid, I'm going to need your help with this," Bando opened the pack and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic, washing some across his hands before snapping on a pair of surgical gloves. "The first thing we need to do is clean up the wound and see if there's any damage to the internal organs. There's a chance she may regain consciousness so if she does I need you to keep her steady and calm." Unfortunately, he didn't have time to apply a local anesthetic, so there wouldn't be any dulling of the pain she was about to feel. Kouta only nodded in response. Taking a pair of scissors out, Bando cut through the gauze and Kouta's old shirt. Dried and crusted blood was immediately covered with new warm blood as the pressure was released. Taking a few cloths and watering them down with the disinfectant, Bando began cleaning up the area. Kouta could make out Lucy's face clenching and contorting as the liquid cleaned and sanitized the area.

"Alright kid, you're going to want to hold her down. This is probably going to hurt." Bando just hoped Kouta would be able to calm her before the diclonius' vectors tore them to shreds. Mentally preparing himself, Bando pushed his hands against either side of the gash, applying more and more pressure to spread it open. More and more blood oozed out of the cut. He didn't think she had lost a lethal amount yet, but even so he had to be quick to discern weather there was any internal damage.

Lucy's eyes finally shot open as she regained consciousness. The first thing she sensed was the overwhelming burning in her side. She immediately recoiled and began thrashing, crying out in anger and pain. "Hold her down!" She heard, and immediately turned her head to the voice. It was that bastard SAT soldier! What the fuck was he doing to her? She tried focusing, willing a vector to come out despite the pain she was feeling, but another voice finally broke through her anguish.

"Lucy it's me, I'm right here." She again craned her head to see Kouta hovering right over her, hands pressed into her shoulders in an attempt to still her movements. "Bando's trying to help, you just need to stay still, okay?" And while she didn't trust Bando any further than she could throw him – granted she could throw him quite far – she did trust Kouta. Nodding at him, she clenched her eyes shut, focusing on overcoming the pain. She had fared far worse under the "experiments" at the research institute, she could bear this little pain.

Bando let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when Lucy became docile at Kouta's words. Finishing his assessment and glad that there was indeed no internal damage, the mercenary removed his hands from Lucy's laceration. He quickly went for a needle and thread, looping the string through. He only hoped that he hadn't gotten too rusty at stitching.

"I'm going to warn you, this is gonna hurt like a sonofabitch." Bando told the diclonius.

"As if it doesn't already, just get it over with." Bando smirked at the girl's steadfastness. Positioning the needle, he pierced it through her skin. Surprisingly the only reaction from Lucy was a quiet grunt. Taking that as a good sign he quickly began working the needle through the gash, going over and under a number of times before doubling back.

As Bando worked all Kouta could do was look on helplessly. Lucy had long since stopped fighting and was now struggling with herself to maintain some sense of composure. Biting back his tears, the boy was startled when he felt something grab his hand. He was surprised to see Lucy holding onto him, her grip tightening around his hand as if trying to find an outlet for her pain. Nodding to himself, Kouta brought his other hand over to cover hers. If this was all he could do for Lucy, provide some outlet for her pain, some comfort, he would do it. She deserved that much.

Snipping off the end of the thread and tidying it up, Bando looked on proudly at his stitching job. It wasn't too shabby in his opinion. Next he cleaned up any excess blood that still resided on the outside of the cut, before grabbing a set of antibiotic treated pads out of their packaging and placing them over the stitching. Finally, he grabbed a new roll of gauze and wrapped it around Lucy's torso multiple times.

"Alright, that should do the job for now," Bando nodded towards the two as he cut the end of the gauze off, finishing the dressing. "Now get her off my table. I don't need it getting any messier than it already is." Confused, Kouta carefully picked up Lucy. He was unsure what to do with her, he didn't want to take her all the way to the Maple Inn when she was still recovering, but he didn't have any other idea of what to do. As he made his way to the doorway, Bando groaned.

"What are you, stupid? You can't take her outside like that. Lay her down over there to rest for a while." Bando pointed to his run down yet surprisingly clean couch. Kouta nodded, grateful for the soldier's hospitality, and gently laid Lucy down on the sofa. The diclonius cracked an eye open, appreciation radiating towards the boy as a small smile spread across her face, before she slowly slipped away into unconsciousness again. Kouta sat still at her side, her hand still held tightly in his.

Bando just sighed at the display. 'Well fuck, guess I gotta clean this crap up now.' He thought to himself as he began wiping up the mess the bleeding diclonius had made of his kitchen.

Outside the city of Kamakura, in the neighboring forest region, a group of diclonius dutifully worked to stitch together the remnants of their queen's arm. Regretfully, they knew she would lose everything from the elbow down, but at least they could save her life.

Lola cried out in pain as her veins and capillaries were closed off, skin shifted to cover the exposed stump. "When I get my hands on that bitch!" Lola cursed out, more to take her mind off the pain than anything.

Exhausted from the precise work that mending wounds required, the four still active guard diclonius backed away. Unfortunately, their sister with a broken leg would need to wait before they could help her.

Bringing herself up, Lola braced herself against a tree. "Damnit, I hate to admit it but on a one on one Lucy has me beat." The rival queen said to no one in particular. "And now that the element of surprise is wasted, I only have one option left. Focusing, Lola called out to her enclave, willing them to come to where she was. She'd need to wait at least a day for them to reach her, but that would be fine.

There was, however, one other problem. There was no way her and Lucy's fight had gone unnoticed, and the JSDF would no doubt be scrambling to intercept any diclonius in the area. For now she would retreat further away from Kamakura. With any luck maybe the humans would take care of the other queen before she had to.

Lucy came to once again, and again the first thing she felt was a dull aching in her side, though significantly tamer than the searing pain before. Opening her eyes, she couldn't help but be elated to see Kouta laying dutifully at her side, head resting on the couch while the rest of him laid on the floor. She went to brush her hand through his hair, but was surprised to find it held firmly in his grasp.

The movement, it seemed, was enough to stir the boy awake. Looking up, Kouta's tired eyes snapped awake when he noticed Lucy staring down at him. Immediately he wrapped his arms around the girl, careful to avoid jostling her or touching her bandaged area. As such his attempted hug was more so him wrapping his arms around her shoulders and neck than a proper hug.

Lucy laid stunned as Kouta whispered out apology after apology, trying desperately to repent for the pain he had caused her. "I'm sorry, Lucy. It's all my fault. Because of me, you're in this state." Regaining focus and gently pulling Kouta off of her to look at him directly, she visibly saw the anguish painted across his face. "I'm so stupid, if I had jus–" he was cut off as Lucy brought her lips to his, immediately silencing the boy. His body went near limp, eyes wide in shock as Lucy moved her lips slowly against his. When she eventually pulled away, Kouta was still at a loss for words. Smiling, Lucy brought a hand to his face, wiping away a tear.

"Kouta, you have nothing to apologize for. It's my purpose to protect you." She gave him a soft smile, taking his hand in hers. "My life is yours."

Kouta vigorously shook his head. "Lucy, you shouldn't say things like that. Your life is worth more than that." He again wrapped her in a pseudo-hug. "Besides, I don't think I could bear to lose you again."

"Kouta…" Lucy whispered lovingly, nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck.

"Jesus Christ you two, can't you wait until you get home to do this lovey dovey crap?" Bando shouted out, entering the room. In his mouth a lit cigarette slowly burned. Kouta immediately snapped up in embarrassment while Lucy just let out a quiet laugh.

Sneaking out behind his shadow, Mayu skipped over to where the two laid. In her arms was the ever excited Wanta. The pup grew even more excited at the extra company, slipping out of Mayu's arms and jumping onto the couch cushion. Lucy snickered a bit as he hopped around, nuzzling and licking her. One of his jumps caused the small dog to fall back into Lucy's side, sending a blaze of pain through her. Mayu noticed this and immediately pulled Wanta away.

"Yeah, you may want to be careful with that for a while. It was a pretty nasty cut." Bando commented. Lucy paid him little mind, lifting herself up and pulling her tank top up slightly. Seconds later an invisible force sliced through the gauze wrapping around her torso, pulling away at the wraps that covered her gash. The group watched on in awe as stitching fell out while flesh mended itself together, the cigarette in Bando's mouth falling to the ground with a dull thud.

Lucy, finishing up piecing her side back together and repositioning her shirt, looked up at the group and cracked a wry smile. Looking at Bando in particular she commented "Your job was good and all, but it can't quite compete."

"Lucy, isn't it a bit dangerous for you to be doing that?" Kouta eyed her now healed side warily, remembering what had happened to the girl when she had used her vectors to heal a gunshot wound of his.

The queen diclonius waved him off. "Oh relax Kouta, compared to piecing you back together, this was child's play." Kouta just shook his head and sighed.

Besides, of all of Lucy's concerns, overexerting her powers was very low on that list. "Bando, why did you of all people help me? I'd figure my injured state would be a perfect opportunity for you to even the score."

The mercenary grunted. "Don't get used to it. I was told there were some freaks at the beach, so of course I'd do some spring cleaning."

"Maybe," Lucy responded. "But that doesn't explain why you would go out of your way to stitch me back together."

"We still have a score to settle, and I'll be damned if I let some other bitch kill you before I get my chance," Mayu whined at his language but Bando ignored her. "Finishing what she started would just be sloppy seconds."

Lucy tried her best to suppress a laugh at his choice of words. "Well, if that's your reasoning, then I'm thankful regardless." And she meant it. If Bando hadn't intervened it was very likely Kouta would have died to those other diclonius.

Looking down at herself she noted the sorry state of her clothing shredded from her battle with the other diclonius they were less than modest. And Kouta wasn't much better off, his shirt having been used as a makeshift bandage had left him a bit more exposed than normal. Not that Lucy minded the sight, but she could only assume that he was less than comfortable.

"Hey, Bando. Since you seem to be in the mood for charity, you wouldn't happen to have any clothes we could borrow?" Lucy figured it didn't hurt to ask. The mercenary snorted.

"What do I look like? A wish granting fairy?" Grumbling he went to his room and grabbed a few bundles, throwing them at the two. "The squirt got these. Thank her." He pointed to Mayu, minding her own business sitting at Bando's now clean table. The girl perked up at her name, offering the three a wave. "Bathroom's that way, get yourselves cleaned up. I don't want you stinking up the damned place." The two nodded thankfully. And Bando walked back towards his room, leaving with one last comment. "But one at a time. I don't want any funny business going on when there's kids around." Kouta's face relit at the assertion.

"Is it really wise to bring Lucy along with us?" Arikawa asked her companion over the rhythmic beating of the helicopter blade. Kurama looked up at her and gave her a curt not.

"If we want to get into what's left of the facility, we'll need her help. As strong as Nana is, I don't want to put all that pressure on her." He looked down towards the girl sitting to his side, legs kicking lazily. She met his gaze and smiled.

"Don't worry, Papa. Nana could definitely do whatever you asked." She replied enthusiastically.

"I'm sure you'd give it your all, Nana." Kurama patted her head fondly.

Arikawa just sighed. "If that's what you think is best." Looking out the window to the rapidly approaching Kamakura, her eyes widened slightly. "Hey, Kurama. Check this out."

"Hmm, what is it?" He looked out the window as well, Kurama let out a curse. All the highways leading into and out of the city had been blockaded, guarded by JSDF soldiers backed up by Vector Attack Crafts. "What the hell is going on down there?"

As if on cue, his phone began to ring. Fishing for the device in his pocket and flipping it open, he looked warily and the unknown number. "Kurama speaking." He answered.

"Uhm, hi, it's Yuka. Kouta wanted me to get ahold of you. It's about the Inn and Lucy." Kurama pinched the bridge of his nose as Yuka informed him of as much as she knew.

"Damn, this isn't good. Where are they now?" Kurama asked.

"If I had to guess they'd be with Bando, wherever he is." Yuka replied. Kurama gave a silent prayer of thanks. Though it was a time in his life he wasn't entirely proud of, Kurama was familiar with the man. As such he had a good idea of where the ex-SAT soldier was located.

"Thank you, Yuka. You and Nozomi try and stay safe, okay? I have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better." The two said their goodbyes and hung up. "Pilot, change of course. We're landing in city."

"Dr., are you sure about that? Kamakura has been designated restricted air space." The pilot shouted to his passenger.

"It'll be fine. I should have clearance to get through." Kurama wasn't 100% sure of that, but he hoped his name at least would keep the JSDF from shooting him down, especially if Arikawa was with him.

As if on cue the screech of a pair of jets rocketed past the helicopter. "Unidentified aircraft, you're approaching restricted air space, please divert course 15 degrees north."

Grabbing a headset from the cockpit, Kurama responded. "This is a civilian craft carrying Dr. Arikawa of the WHO. We have time sensitive business in the area. Please allow clearance."

There was a long pause while the pilots presumably relayed the information to their superiors. "Very well, clearance authorized. Please be aware that there are confirmed reports of diclonius activity in the area; Threat level severe. We will be unable to guarantee protection to any civilians inside the quarantined area."

Kurama breathed a sigh of relief. "Understood, and thank you," Pointing out a ghetto in the city, the doctor spoke to the craft's pilot. "Alright, set us down there." The pilot nodded and began his approach.

Anna Kakuzawa, last surviving member of the Kakuzawa lineage, carefully made her way through her shared residence, carrying a tray of rice balls and tea. It was well past noon but she figured her guardian could use a distraction from that computer she occupied herself with all the time. Well, all the time that she was home at least.

"Uhm, Miss Kiko, I brought you some food." The girl demurely spoke as she entered her guardian's room. The blonde agent turned from her computer screen and gave the girl a groan.

"Anna I told you not to call me by that," she said as she took a rice ball from the tray. "But thank you." The black haired girl giggled in response.

"But it's such a pretty name. How can you not like it?" She set the tray down on Kiko's computer desk and proceeded to pour two cups of tea.

"Psh, a name like that is hardly cool enough for a secret agent like me." Flipping her long hair back to enunciate her point, the agent only received another giggle from her ward.

"I suppose you should have a super cool spy name then right? How about after that James Bond guy? We can call you Pierce Brosnan." Anna held her hand to her mouth as she attempted to stifle yet another laugh.

"Tsk, as if I'd ever want to be related to his Bond movies. Everyone worth their salt knows Roger Moore was the best Bond."

Their idle chatter was interrupted by the ringing of Kiko's phone. Flipping the device over to check the caller ID, the agent's eyebrows arched at the number. She quickly grabbed the phone and answered. "Agent Kinaka."

"Agent, report to HQ right away." The sharp voice spoke through the receiver.

"General Kanabe? What's this about? It's my day off you know." She replied, surprised by her boss's urgent orders.

"Agent haven't you been watching the news? No one has off today." The general stated. Kiko held the phone between her head and her shoulder as she tapped away on her keyboard to open a local news site. In bold letters, the featured article read "BREAKING: Kamakura warded off by JSDF after Diclonius sighting."

"Understood sir, I'll be there as soon as I can," hanging up, she turned to Anna, the girl's curiosity fighting with her politeness having prevented her from peeking a glimpse of her guardian's computer screen. "Well, no rest for the wicked I suppose. Hold down the fort while I'm out, 'kay?" Ruffling the black haired girls locks, she got up out of her seat and began changing into her work clothes.

"Hey, what's going on?" Anna finally asked as Kiko shamelessly changed in front of the girl.

"Real life calling, that's all," she replied, pulling her shirt over her head and grabbing her shades off of her desk. "Do me a favor kid, don't ever grow up."

Seeing her guardian off, Kiko gave an amused nod. "I'll do my best. You do your best too, okay Miss Kiko?"

"I told you not to call me that!" The agent called out, but Anna had already closed the door behind her. Groaning, the blond got in her car and made her way towards the inner city.

Cleaned and changed, Lucy and Kouta sat idly on Bando's couch. There wasn't much to do in the ex-SAT soldier's house; the place was very spartan. So that left a lot of time to think. And all Kouta could think about was Yuka and Nozomi and if they were safe.

"Hey, Bando, do you have a phone here?" Kouta asked as he reluctantly parted from Lucy. The more time passed the more worried he got about his cousin and her friend. He wanted to try and get ahold of them to see if they were safe.

"Of course not, too easy to track." The mercenary grunted as he peeked out of his kitchen window shades, scanning the streets for any unusual activity. In the time between their showers Bando had grown wary of something and was continuously checking outside.

"Hmm…." Kouta rubbed his chin, carefully considering their options. "Alright, I'm going to go to Yuka's parents and see if they heard anything." As he went to go throw on his shoes a large hand grabbed his shoulder.

"I wouldn't do that, kid." Bando spoke behind him. Kouta turned around and gave him a curious gaze. Bando simply moved over to the radio in the room and flipped it on to a local broadcast.

"-s an emergency alert. Kamakura is currently under martial law. All residence please remain in your homes for the duration of this emergency. The government thanks you for your cooperation. Once again, this is an emergency alert. Kama-" Bando turned off the radio as it began to loop again.

"Don't look so surprised. We created quite a stir down at the beach. Of course word of that is going to spread fast." Bando waved off Kouta's growing confusion.

"Wait, what does that mean? Martial law? So we're all trapped here now?" Kouta was growing even more worried. What if there were more diclonius? What if they found Yuka and Nozomi?

"That's a way of putting it. In a time of crisis the government suspends the regular rule of law in favor of extreme measures to guarantee public safety, or so the theory goes," Bando chuckled. "Never much of a fan of governments myself, only reason I joined up to become one of their peons was for the excuse to shoot stuff." He grinned at his wicked words.

Kouta wasn't as amused. "But they could be in danger! Are you saying I shouldn't do anything?" Bando just shrugged.

"Hey, I'm not your baby sitter. You're your own man, make your own decisions. I'm just giving you my two cents."

"Well then I'm going out." Kouta decided.

"Not without me you're not." Lucy spoke out as she made her way into the kitchen with the two.

"Lucy!" Kouta shouted out concerned. "What are you doing? You shouldn't be moving around yet."

"Relax Kouta, I'm a big girl. I know my limits," Kouta mumbled something about her limits not stopping her before, but she ignored it. "Kouta, I know you're concerned about your cousin. Let me help you make sure she's okay." Kouta wanted to protest more but Lucy gave him a stern look that wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Alright fine. But please be careful." Kouta finally relented.

"Am I ever not?" Lucy replied jokingly. Kouta's stare of disbelief was his answer. "Right, don't answer that." She finished sheepishly.

"For the record I think that you two are being really fucking dumb right now." Bando commented, still looking out the window.

"Noted." Lucy replied.

"Well as long as that's se—what the fuck is that?" Bando's train of thought was interrupted as a helicopter swooped over the house before landing a few blocks away. Scrambling towards his room, Bando quickly punched in the combo to a safe, pulling out G3 rifle and quickly loading a mag and chambering the first round.

"I should feel insulted. Lucy mused as Bando returned to his post, warily eyeing the area where the chopper landed. "You have, in your house, the ultimate bioweapon known to man, and yet you fall back on an antique like that."

Bando grinned. "Sorry lady, but I'll take cold hard steel over crazy psychic powers any day." That was the last comment made before the group fell into silence. Mayu had entered the room, Wanta in tow, to find out what all the prior noise was about but was quickly hushed by Bando.

"God damn it really?" Bando finally commented as a figure appeared in his vision. Lowering his rifle he went for the door. He opened it and quickly shouted. "Kurama, get your ass in here."

At Bando's request, the doctor made his way into his one-time living mate's new housing, bringing with him a very bewildered Dr. Arikawa. "Thanks Bando, I don't think I'd have been able to figure out which house was yours otherwise," seeing Lucy and Kouta inside, Kurama let out a sigh of relief. "Good, Yuka was right, you two are here." At his cousin's name, Kouta perked up.

"Yuka? Is she okay? How about Nozomi? Where are they? Did anything happen?" Kouta's barrage of questions caught the older man off guard.

"Relax Kouta, they're fine. Yuka called me from her parent's house. They're there right now," The youth let out a sigh of relief at the confirmation of his cousin's and Nozomi's safety. "More importantly. There's something we need to discuss with Lucy. And seeing how it involves Lucy, it's probably for the best to bring you along as well."

Lucy, though still somewhat wary of her once upon a time captor, obliged his request. "What do you need me for?"

"From my understanding Chief Kakuzawa had a secret laboratory under the island that the research facility was located. We were hoping you could take us there," Kurama explained. "We think there might be something there that can help us understand the diclonius, and how exactly you survived."

Kouta grew suspicious at that assertion. "What does it matter how she survived? Don't we have more important things going on right now? Like how there's a bunch of diclonius who want Lucy dead? Or how the government knows that there's diclonius in Kamakura?"

"You're absolutely right, Kouta," Arikawa entered in. "But think of it this way. That other diclonius, Lola was her name? For all intents and purposes she was another diclonius queen. If we can figure out what's going on with Lucy, we might be able to figure out how a second queen diclonius exists in the first place."

Kouta furrowed his brow, still overprotective of Lucy but not able to immediately refute the doctor's point. Lucy placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "She's right Kouta. I might be able to fend off the strike force Lola brought with her, but who knows how many more people she has under her command. And isn't one of the arts of war to know your enemy?" Lucy smirked.

"Clever girl." Bando commented, but otherwise kept to himself.

"When did you have time to read up on Sun Tzu?" Kurama commented, surprised by Lucy's reference.

"You'd be surprised what I picked up on in that cell," Lucy gave him a devilish grin. "Your security wasn't nearly as tight lipped as you might have believed."

Her façade became a bit more serious after that comment. "However, there is a bit of a problem. That cave was bathing in radiation. You wouldn't survive two seconds down there."

Kurama nodded. "Already accounted for and taken care of. We have radiation suits in the cargo. We can suit up in the chopper."

"Speaking of chopper…" Bando butted into the conversation again. "Kurama are you fucking retarded?! You flew right through restricted airspace with a civilian aircraft like that?!"

"Oh relax, we got clearance." Kurama brushed off the mercenary's harsh words.

"I wasn't done yet. I don't give a shit about what you do in your free time. You have suicidal tendencies that's your thing. But you landed it right next to my house. You don't think that's going to draw suspicion to this place? Damn it now I have to move again!" Bando muttered something about going off the grid, but otherwise kept the rest of his resentment to himself.

"Well, if there isn't anything else to discuss, we should head out. The quicker we get there the better." The group nodded and made their way out.

"Uhm, Mr. Kurama?" Mayu finally spoke up before they left. "Nana is with you, right?" The doctor nodded so she continued. "Can you tell her I said hi?"

"Of course Mayu." Kurama gave her a soft smile and the group left the house.

"Good, go. It was getting crowded around here anyways." Bando commented as the door shut.

"Aw, did Mr. Bando want to go with them?" Mayu asked

"What? Go to a top secret facility with potential for danger and adventure? Why would I?" Bando muttered.

"Don't worry Mr. Bando, we can have fun here too!" She shuffled up to the soldier, Wanta still in arms, and the pup gave his grizzled face a happy lick. "Wanna play fetch with Wanta?"

"Dumb kid." Bando whispered, too quiet for Mayu to hear.

The blades of the helicopter sliced through the air as the group made their way towards the sunken remains of the Institute. "So how are we getting down there?" Kouta finally asked. Dressed in a bulky hazmat suit like the rest of the group, his voice was carried over through a headset.

Kurama pointed to a diver propulsion vehicle. "We use that. The suits are waterproof and good for pressures up to 150 psi. That should be enough to withstand however deep this lab is. We'll winch onto the submersible and pilot it through to the lab."

"Alright doctor, we're over the ruins of the facility now. Beginning decent." The pilot spoke over the radio.

"Understood." Kurama replied. "Alright everyone, get ready." The group, consisting of Nana, Dr. Arikawa, Kouta, and Lucy nodded in response. When the helicopter was hovering a few feet over the water he pushed the vehicle into the water, it landing with a heavy splash. "Oh, Nana, I almost forgot. Mayu says hi." Nana smiled at the mention of her friend.

The older male dived into the water and the rest of the group followed. Using lines of paracord, the group tied themselves onto the submersible. "Okay Lucy, lead the way." Kurama showed her the controls and had the diclonius take the lead.

Amidst the quiet hum of the propulsion vehicle, the group of five made their way through the waters. Diving deeper and deeper, Lucy found the general location of where she had recalled the lab being. Arikawa pointed out an opening in the rubble and they made their way forward. "Alright Lucy, see if you can find an area that hasn't been flooded." Kurama spoke through the radio. They continued until Lucy spotted the glow of light above the water. Pointing the vehicle up, they made their way to the surface.

Coming up above the water, they found a spot of shallow water to set the submersible. Kouta took stock of their surroundings. They had surfaced in a small cave, seemingly lit from light leaking out past a bend in the tunnel. Unhitching themselves from the vehicle, the group began trekking towards the source of light. Quickly, the small cave opened up into a massive chamber, home of Chief Kakuzawa's failed Lebensborn Project. "Hmm, so this place survived the facility's collapse." Lucy commented as they explored the giant cave.

"Looks like the emergency power is still running. I'm surprised by how sturdy this place was built." Kurma commented absentmindedly. The whole cave was bathed in a dull red light, just enough to make out a few doors and a collapsed elevator dotting the landscape. The group made their way to the nearest door, opening it and finding the hallway caved in.

"Well, onto the next one I guess." Arikawa stated with a sigh. She turned around and began to walk back when the sound of rock being smashed startled her. Looking back again she saw Nana focusing as her invisible vectors tore through and pushed the rubble aside. "Or we could do that." The doctor finished.

"Good job, Nana." Kurama praised his surrogate daughter, giving her a head pat through the hazmat suit. The smaller diclonius let out a sigh of content. Making their way forward, they finally entered what appeared to be a security room.

"Well, it's a better start than nothing. Let's start sorting through the recordings and see if there's anything important." Kurama directed. They filed through recordings and played a few that sounded important, but came across nothing too extraordinary. Until Arikawa found a file labeled "Patient Zero" containing a couple tapes.

"I think I found something interesting here." The doctor called out to the rest. They gathered around as she inserted the tape.

The tape read "Begin Playback" before cutting to a clip of a woman bound up, her face undistinguishable due to the lighting of the room.

"Where's Kade." She finally spoke after a moment.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Miss… what was your name again?" a voice, Chief Kakuzawa's, responded.

"Screw. You." She replied.

"Feisty, aren't you? You know, for the mother of Eve, I would have expected you to be a bit more feminine." The Chief finally came into view. "No matter. It's not you I'm after, but your genes. With you, we'll create an Adam for our new race." As Kakuzawa approached the woman she shriveled away.

"Get away from me you monster!" she snapped at him as he grew closer.

"But my dear, we must complete the ceremony." His hands began running up and down the woman as she shuddered in disgust. Before it went any further the tape cut out.

"What the hell was that?" Kouta asked in disbelief. Kurama had a much more disturbed look on his face. He had a good guess as to what that just was.

Lucy was visibly trembling at the video's conclusion. "T-that was my mom." She finally spoke. "Kakuzawa had told me he had captured her, forced her to have another child, but this…" She began tearing up. "The first time I hear her voice, and it's seeing her like that." Kouta went to hug her, but she held him off. "Play the next one." Arikawa silently complied, inserting the next tape.

"You'll be happy to know the child is healthy as a horse." The Chief began, speaking to Lucy's still bound mother.

"Fuck you, you monster." She replied simply.

"My oh my, is that any way for a new mother to react?" The chief gloated. "But there's even more family tidings, we're finally closing in on Eve. It won't be long until Lebensborn can begin in earnest."

"Please, let me see her." Lucy's mother finally spoke after a bout of silence.

"Very well, for your cooperation in the creation of the new world, I'll let you see what your daughter has grown into." Kakuzawa brought a photo in front of her, a picture of a much younger Lucy, still sporting a familiar blue hat.

"Kaede…" the nearly broken woman whispered affectionately.

"Of course, when she actually comes to the facility any contact between you two will be strictly forbidden. Eve is too volatile to allow such freedom." Kakuzawa offhandedly mentioned as he tucked the photo away.

"You bastard what do you plan on doing to her?!" her spirit renewed, the woman yelled back at the Chief.

"Eventually, once she and Adam are old enough, we'll use them to create the new race that will inherit the earth." Kakuzawa stated plainly.

Her mother fell limp again, disheartened by his words. "Kaede, I'm so sorry," her mother whispered. "If only I had been able to keep you. None of this would have happened."

"Oh my dear, what is there to regret? With your help we will evolve this earth past the barbarity of humanity." The chief gloated, waving his hands in a dramatic fashion.

"Just leave me alone." Lucy's mother whispered. Before long the clip came to an end.

"There's one more tape, Lucy. Do you want me to play that one as well?" Arikawa asked. The queen diclonius numbly nodded so the doctor inserted the last recording.

The video started with Lucy's mother hanging limply from her bindings. "Sir, patient zero committed suicide while guard shifts were changing last night." A voice behind the camera spoke.

"Unacceptable! How did this happen?!" Kakuzawa raged, also concealed behind the camera.

"It seems she was able to slip a pin off of one of the guards, probably while they were washing her off. Then during the guard shift she punctured a major artery and bled out." The guard explained.

"That insane woman. Why would she take her life when she was going to be the mother of a new species? The mother of Adam and Eve? She could have been a god!" Kakuzawa ranted. "Try and salvage her reproductive organs. At least we can use them to cause artificial conception and birth more pure diclonius."

The tape cut forward, as if spliced with another one. "Sir, it appears the harvested organs are unusable." A different, more feminine voice spoke. This tape took place in a medical facility.

"Wonderful." Kakuzawa muttered.

"Sir, if I may. This incident raises a very real concern with the project. If one of the subjects were to take their own lives or to die due to other complications, the entire Lebensborn Project would be lost." The doctor spoke to the Chief.

"Yes, that's a valid point…" Kakuzawa thought for a moment. "How is the progress on Project Dolly coming along?"

"Very good so far, sir. We've had multiple successes with Number 35." She replied.

"Good. Prep another batch for Eve when she arrives. Adam is docile enough that I don't think we'll need to expend the resources, but we can't be sure of his sister." The Chief commanded.

"Yes sir." The tape concluded before cutting out.

The room was filled with silence following the end of the recording. Lucy tried desperately to hold back the welling emotions that were churning inside of her. "Up until the end, my mom was thinking of me…" She whispered to herself, but loud enough that Kouta was able to hear her. Kouta once again tried giving her a hug, and this time she offered no resistance. Quietly trembling in his arms she continued rambling. "Despite everything that bastard put her through, she was thinking of me."

Meanwhile, Arikawa and Kurama were searching through other files. Arikawa in particular was after a file she had glossed over earlier labeled "Project Dolly." She had an 'aha' moment when she finally found it. There were a few documents lying out DNA sequences and stem cell research, along with another tape. Throwing caution to the wind, Arikawa inserted it and let it start playing.

As the tape began, a distinctly male voice spoke into the recorder to a backdrop of a laboratory featuring a series of human sized capsules. "Log #7: Preliminary experiments on Subject Eve are turning in mixed results. We've had a few promising batches but none have turned out to be viable. It seems that trying to recreate the queen's DNA sequence is much more difficult than the Silpelits. The chief has allocated resources for another half dozen tests. Hopefully we can show results before that funding dries up. I don't want to imagine what he'll do if we fail."

The tape cut out before playback began on another recording. "Log #16. This batch is showing some results, and not a moment too soon. The Chief is moving funding away from Project Dolly towards vaccine research. Chief Kakuzawa has given the go ahead to begin accelerated growth of the viable subjects to bring them in line with the original."

Another cut, and another log. "Log #18. One subject has survived accelerated growth. We've been given the go ahead to put her into cold storage for future use. The Chief seemed overjoyed at having a backup. It's reassuring to know that if something should happen to Eve we'll still have another to continue further research." As the speaker adjusted the camera, a cryotube replacing the previous capsules came into focus, revealing a female diclonius in stasis, Lucy.

"W-what is that?" Kouta asked in shock.

"Holy crap, he actually did it." Arikawa commented. Lucy looked on in disbelief, as did Nana and Kouta to a lesser extent. Kurama's jaw just tightened.

"What the hell is that?" Lucy finally managed, still held in Kouta's arms.

"That, Lucy, is you." Arikawa replied. "Or it might be more accurate to say, you as you currently are. You are a clone of the original Lucy."

"Bullshit," Lucy spat out. "I don't remember any of that. Besides, how would I have any memory of dying if that was true?"

"Of course you wouldn't remember being cloned. That'd be like a child remembering being born. As far as having all of the memories that you do…" Arikawa pondered. "The only theory I have is the diclonius hive mind imprinted the memories onto your new body."

"That doesn't make any sense." Lucy denied.

"About as much sense as having telekinetic abilities does." Arikawa commented. Kurama placed a hand on the female doctor's shoulder, trying to get her to lighten up her assault. He couldn't imagine the trauma that this was causing the young girl.

"Lucy, it would explain a lot,' Kurama took over. "Like why you're still alive while simultaneously there existing documented proof of your remains from the candle tower. It would also explain why you've never reverted to your Nyu state since coming back; your new body hasn't experienced the same trauma as your old one, just the memories of that trauma."

Lucy thought about it. And she couldn't deny it. She hadn't felt Nyu or that DNA voice since waking up on the shore. "But, if this is all true… am I even Lucy? Am I even Kaede?" Her sense of self was completely shattered.

"Lucy, look at me." Kouta shook her out of her daze." The stunned girl looked at her male companion with wide eyes. "Do you remember the time we played together as kids? Or the time we went to the zoo?" Lucy dumbly nodded. "And the time we spent together in the Maple Inn?" Again she nodded. "Then that's what matters. No matter what, you're still Lucy, you're still Kaede." He pulled her close into another hug, despite the bulk of the hazmat suits.

"You're still the girl I fell in love with."

If Lucy's eyes could have grown any bigger that would have caused it. The diclonius almost went limp at Kouta's words."Kouta… you…?"

"Lucy I don't care how you're alive, I just care that you are. I just care that I have another chance to grow close to you." Kouta continued.

"Kouta's right, Lucy." Nana chimed in. "When you returned your presence felt just the same as it did before. As far as I'm concerned you're still the same Lucy that lived with us before."

Kurama smiled at Nana and at Kouta. The two really were wonderful people. "Nana, Arikawa, let's keep on searching over the files in this place and the other two facilities we saw. Why don't you two head back to the submersible. We'll meet you when we're done searching the place."

Kouta nodded and lead Lucy back to the sub while the rest of the group combed over the facility. Any other documents and recordings would have to be brought back with them and studied when they had reached the shore. Luckily Kurama had brought airtight packaging to store all of it on the way back.

Back at the sub, Kouta sat against a wall, Lucy resting in his arms. The girl was mentally fatigued after all of the news brought to light concerning her mother and her rebirth. "Kouta, you're amazing. You know that?" She whispered.

"I'm not sure I'd go that far." He gave out a sheepish laugh at the compliment.

"But you are. I've never met a person as kind and as caring as you." She pushed herself as far into him as their suits would allow.

"You must have not met that many people then." He commented modestly. Lucy shook her head in defeat. Technically he was right, she hadn't known many people in her life. But even if she had, the girl wagered she'd never find someone as kind as Kouta.

"Knock knock. Hope we're not interrupting anything,' Kurama commented as the three returned from their search. "We've gathered all that we could. There was some interesting stuff on the diclonius genome and brain activity when in groups. It should help us out a little bit at least. You two ready to head out?" Kouta nodded as he lifted himself and Lucy up off the ground. Attaching themselves back to the diver propulsion vehicle, the group made their way back to the surface.

On their way back up the group noticed a lot more noise on the surface. As they finally parted the water back to the top, the group was greeted by a large squadron of military helicopters.

A loud voice boomed over one of the craft's megaphones. "Dr. Kurama, Dr. Arikawa, you and your associates are under arrest under accusation of conspiring with known terrorist elements. Place your hands visibly on your craft away from your body and remain that way until we bring you into custody."

Fortsetzung folgt…

AN: Another rough chapter, but I've kept you all waiting long enough. I've long since come to the conclusion that I'm going to need to do a second edition of this story when I finish it to clean up and repace everything. Until then, enjoy what there is. Or don't, your call.

And the revelation of Lucy's "Rebirth" (badum tis) comes to light. Was it as lame as you thought it would be? Maybe. I hope I at least made it interesting. This theory of Lucy's survival came from one main source, 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2.' For as lame as that game was, it had an interesting way of bringing Starkiller back, and the existential dilemma that cloning presents is an interesting one. It's like the Ship of Theseus paradox on an entirely different level. What defines the self? Is it your genes? Your memories? Your beliefs? It's an interesting thought.

And being Chapter V, the opening was heavily inspired by Metal Gear Solid V, especially from Ground Zeroes. Anyone who's played the game will probably spot the similarities.

Silent Roar: Get an account dang it. Replying to you like this is tacky. Anyways, thanks for the kind words, did you guess the Rebirth correctly? And as far as the lifespan of these characters are concerned, well you'll just have to wait and see.

Cheers.