Ziggy sat on the ground against the wall with his eyes closed. MOMO was talking to him, but he seemed to be tuning her out. His clothes were no longer black and the realian began thinking that her friend was back to normal. He had just finished saving her, thought MOMO; he couldn't be so bad now…
"Ziggy," said MOMO repeating herself for the fifth time.
She crossed her arms in irritation when he didn't respond.
"He's probably tired," said Jr. coming up.
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The ceiling was high above him and strange pictures decorated it, but something was different. He realized that the pictures weren't created by simple lines, but by diamonds, rubies, and sapphires. He touched the wall near him and felt the treasures; they felt so real. Light reflected off the jewels making the domed room vibrant in color. The man who stood in the middle of it all seemed painted with a collage of colors. Then a bright light shined in front of the man. A little girl appeared. The man knew at once who it was. Nephilim.
"This is your last refuge, Sauer, for the turmoil that rages against you. Locked up in their designated prison, the rage grew stronger. Then the prisons are unlocked and the rage pushes out and proceeds to consuming whatever is in front of them. Chaos follows and you run to the last place where you must make your stand. The house of your soul remains; shining through among all other things. A soul that has been kept away from prying eyes, but one that drives fear into those who seek to destroy."
"Nephilim…"
"Think on these things, Sauer."
"Ziggy," called MOMO cutting through his dream and shaking him to wakefulness.
For the third time that day, he had wakened from utter exhaustion and for the third time he had wakened to the innocent voice of MOMO. He looked into her light brown eyes and watched as she stiffened with fear. The anger in his eyes seemed to grab the little realian and suffocate her very soul.
"Take your hand off of me," said the low, deep voice of Ziggy indignantly.
She let go obediently.
"Hey, cool it!" said Jr.
Ziggy crossed his arms and looked away, "Taking orders from a little boy, I see."
"You should know that I'm no little, old man."
"So you say."
MOMO knew suddenly that Jr. was sensitive on this subject which was why he never openly brought it up. In fact, everyone had sensed this and in an unwritten rule book it stated that none should. No one did until this moment when Ziggy had purposely done so. Of course an argument followed; a very intense one. Oddly, it was comical to MOMO. Ziggy just didn't do things like that. Despite the constant tension that always formed between the two, the cyborg had successfully avoided argument. Ziggy would simply state the facts and Jr. would give his objections; that was as far as it would go.
"That's enough you two! You sound like a couple of housewives."
They both glared at her.
"He started it!" proclaimed Jr.
"You didn't have to say anything afterwards…little boy."
"I told you already, I'm not…"
"Shut-up, boy."
"What!? You must want to die!"
"I'm not scared. You don't have the guts."
"You guys!" interrupted MOMO before it went any further, "I don't want neither of you to die. We should all go to the bridge."
She had managed to at least help them agree on one thing: their next destination was the bridge. MOMO followed the two hot-tempered men. They didn't say anything to each other, but MOMO could see the malicious side glances that took place.
They really shouldn't have been in the same room not with such opposing spirits. Looking at them, immediately you would see the contrast. One was tall, older, and influenced by U-DO. Another was short, younger, and was anti-U-DO. With Ziggy filled with such strong rage and Jr. being who he always is there was bound to be trouble. Jr. broke the silence as they were walking.
"There's just one thing that's bothering me, old man. What was U-tic soldiers doing on the Durandal."
MOMO expected a snazzy comeback, but the cyborg surprised her.
"They were illusions."
"Huh?!"
"False danger created by U-DO. The bait…"
"The bait for who?"
"For me."
There was silence after; Jr. hadn't expected such a response. Then he realized what the cyborg was saying. Whoever was behind this had used false danger for him to tap into the U-DO's control and power in the same way Albedo had used MOMO as bait to tap into his power. Jr. looked back at Ziggy and nodded with understanding. The cyborg looked at the URTV also, but his unnerving eyes were unreadable.
MOMO didn't quite understand the exchange between the two, but it seemed that they were in agreement with something. She sighed; at least they stopped yelling down each others' throats.
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AN: Who would've thought? Jr. and Ziggy understanding each other.