Chapter 8: The Dragon of Land and Sea

For the next few days, I had been busy resuming my life as a Gods Eater, taking on missions, wiping Aragami and collecting materials… The same old, same old. I did go solo a few times, but only after confirming with Hibari that there were no other nasty surprises like the Vajra incident. I also met up and apologize with Brendan and Tatsumi for blowing up like that, so everything is cool between us. But just yesterday while doing the mission "Mouse Trap"; I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. I didn't feel any hostility, as if whoever or whatever was watching merely did it out of curiosity. I didn't find any signs of other people there, nor Aragami besides the ones I suppose to terminate, so I brushed if off as mere paranoia.

In fact, that wasn't the only strange thing that happened to me. Whenever I went Burst Mode, I became much more powerful, faster, stronger and my senses became sharper, more so than usual. Heck, there was one time while doing a mission with Kanon within the group, I was the only one to avoid all her friendly-fires, though that only happened while I was in Burst Mode. Come to think of it, the duration lasted longer too. Brendan who saw it stood there with his jaw down, asking me, "How the hell did you do that? You have got to teach me how to do that someday, I was getting sick being hit by her bullets all the time." I couldn't tell him I didn't know how I could do that, or anyone else for that matter.

What the hell is happening to me?

Once, I went to Doc and told him about it, but all he said that it was something New-Types only had and told me not to worry about it too much. Well Doc, I hate to tell you this but you are a terrible liar. Of course, I never told him that there and then. But the Doc would have done something by now if it were bad, and since he is the only scientific expert on both Aragami and God Eaters in the Far East Branch, I decided to trust his judgment.

That didn't make me feel any better though.

Sighing to myself, I went to the entrance of the Den to meet up with Lindow and Sakuya for a mission later on. Come to think of it, this is the first time I went on a mission with the both them together. Remembering their "married couple" arguments while in the Den, I hoped they were mature enough to leave it behind during a mission. As I walk into the Den, I noticed Sakuya waving at me. When I got closer, Sakuya said, "I'm hearing good things about you! You're exceeding expectations, they can't praise you enough." Sakuya, as much as I appreciate the gesture, the last thing I wanted to be reminded of are my "achievements". Thinking about it was enough to make the scars from the Vajra ache. Sakuya's expression turned sour however, "But, uh, try not to overdo it, okay? You see… the greatest of Gods Eaters… tend to die young." As much as I hate to think about it, was Eric really counted among the greatest?

"Meaning I've got a long life ahead of me, is that what you're saying?"

The sudden arrival of a familiar voice from behind made me jump, "Goddamn it, Lindow! You scared the bejesus out of me!" I shouted, clutching where my heart is. The Corporal had an amused smirk on his face, "What, still not used to surprises? You should have learned to expect the unexpected by now, rookie."

I huffed, "On the BATTLEFIELD, where are Aragami are always prowling about, not inside the Den with your own comrades, you twit!" Chuckling, Lindow gave me sheepish grin, "Ouch, a fair point." Sakuya giggled at the scene, "Keeping executive hours as usual?" Lindow shrugged, "Right, cause I'm an executive. All right, another day of fun work, guys! It's gonna be the 3 of us today. I'll take the lead. Sakuya, you're the backup." He then turned to me, "And you're the commando. Show us what a New-Type can do… remember your training." I nodded my head, having checked the details of the mission beforehand. Our target this time is a single Gboro-Gbroro, a Draconic Aragami that can move on land and sea and fire water spheres from cannon on its forehead.

A sudden ring came from Lindow's pocket. He reached into it and pulled a device similar to a hand-held terminal. What surprised me was the hint of a glare that appeared on Lindow's face, something that I've never seen before. Sakuya seemed to have noticed it too and chose that moment to ask, "Anything else?" Lindow looked pretty distracted when he put the mini-terminal away, "Well, um… don't die, all right?" Sakuya said rather sarcastically, "Thank you for your very thorough orders, Big Boss." I could tell that she was worried about him even as she said that. Without another word we all left for our mission, each of us left with our own thoughts.

-Mission: Crocodile Two
Location: Sunken Grid-

When we arrive, there were Ogretails prowling about. Even though they weren't part of the mission, they would be a nuisance when fighting the Gboro-Gboro. So the first step was to eliminate all of the small fries while searching for the target. I split up with Sakuya and Lindow so that we could cover more ground. I took one side of the grid while they took the other and it wasn't long before the area was clear of Ogretails. "Helsing, the Gboro-Gboro is on this side. Get over here quick!" Acknowledging Lindow, I quickly made my way to the battle when a water sphere trailed past my head. "What the hell!" Ducking for cover, I immediately recognized the Aragami from the description. The Gboro-Gboro began to thrash about, forcing Lindow to go on defensive and Sakuya hurriedly shot Recovery Bullets to keep him alive. I began firing Spark Bullets at the Aragami, averting its attention to me. It then crawled towards me… Though with the speed it was going, is it really crawling? I rolled to the side and began slashing it to hell. Once Lindow pitched in, the Gboro-Gboro eventually roared and collapsed on the ground. Lindow and I used our Predator mode and took a huge chunk from it. As the power surged through me, I felt the familiar changes within me as the Oracle Cells reacted. Lindow and I kept attacking the Gboro-Gboro until the top fin was broken. Getting back up, the Aragami roared with raged as green smoke began tailing from its mouth-

Wait, green smoke?

It literally tried to take a bite out of us after that, twice it went after Lindow and once after me before thrashing about again. Whenever it tried to bite us, it would use its mass and momentum to slide forward at top speed. It didn't really matter since, Lindow and I were always at the side and Sakuya was too far away to get hit. At some point, it disengaged us and ran away, forcing us to chase after it. The chase got complicated when it disappeared into one of the waterways. "Damn it, spread out and search! Do not engage it until the rest of the team is there." Lindow gave out his orders. I decided to check out the inner part of the grid, which had greenery growing there. I saw no sign of the target but I silently stared at the plants that grew there, one of the relics of what we have lost.

They were beautiful…

A sudden movement from the waters nearby caught my attention and I readied my God Arc. The large splash was heard as the Gboro-Gboro came out of the water and landed on the ground. It was tense moment when the Aragami noticed I was there and stared at me. I stood there, clenching the handle of my God Arc and waited for it to attack. Instead, it ignored me and proceeded to munch away on the plants. Lowering my sword, I looked at it and blinked for few moments before contacting Lindow, "I found the Gboro-Gboro, it's in the middle of the grid." Lindow answered, "Are you sure, Helsing?" Looking at it again, I nodded to no one in particular, "Yeah, I'm looking at it eating as we speak."

"… Oh."

"Lindow, just get your ass over here already."

"Got it. We're on the way."

I then went back to the outer parts of the grid and went Gun Mode. As soon as I saw my two superiors nearby, I took aim and opened fire, raining Spark Mortar bombs on it. The Gboro-Gboro roared in anger at the interruption of its meal and went straight for us. Grinning, I set up a snare trap in front of me and took a few steps backwards. And… it got caught; hook, line and sinker. Seizing the advantage, I took another out of it and decided to pass a condensed bullet to Sakuya. "Take it!" I shouted while shooting the bullet towards her. Upon receiving it, she gave me a thumbs-up, "Thanks, leave it to me!" Continuing our assault, I slashed a few times before adding a quick devour into the mix. Roaring in pain, green smoke began to drip for the Aragami's mouth yet again. I managed to block its bite attack, along with its thrashing. But what I didn't expect was that it could shoot from its cannon immediately while enraged.

As you might have guess, I got blasted and was sent flying towards a wall. On the positive side, this was nothing compared to what the Vajra did to me.

As I got to my feet slightly dazed, I heard Lindow shouted a warning. Shaking my head, I looked up… to see the Gboro-Gboro coming at me full speed with its mouth open! Even with my Burst Mode, it was physically impossible to dodge this without losing a limb or two and at this point, it was too late to raise my shield.

So, I did the only thing I could think of… I jumped straight in.

…..

Lindow watched in shock as the rookie jumped straight into the opened jaws of the Gboro-Gboro. Sakuya went next to him, equally as shocked. She then looked at Lindow for confirmation, "Lindow…. Did he just…?" The Corporal merely stood there for a moment, but was brought of his frozen state when the Aragami turned towards them. "Damn it!" Lindow brought up his God Arc and got ready for an attack when…

BOOOOOMMMM!

A large gaping hole appeared at the side of the Gboro-Gboro. The Aragami fell down, dead in an instant and from the smoking hole emerged Kamino, sticky and slimy, but otherwise alright. He then looked towards Lindow and Sakuya and said, "As much as I'm sure this a good time to say something cool, I'm motivated to say otherwise. THAT. WAS. DISGUSTING."

…..

Wiping my face and hands with handkerchief I had with me, I went over towards my superiors who had relief etched in their faces. Lindow gave me a thumbs-up but had a puzzled look at the same time, "Why didn't you jump over it when it was rushing you?" I gave him a blank look, "And lose both of my legs?"

"Yeah… but you do remember you can double jump while in Burst Mode, right?"

And at that point, ladies and gentleman, I face-palmed myself for forgetting something so basic.

"Goddamn it."

…..

15 showers or so later, I received word that I would be attending a 4-person team mission later on. After having my lunch, I went up to the entrance and saw that Soma, Kota and Sakuya were already waiting. I walked over and talked to Sakuya. "Ready to go?" She nodded, "Yeah, we're just waiting for Lindow."

Lindow? But with him that makes five people, and I'm pretty sure I correctly heard that it was a 4-person mission. Was there something I missed?

…

-Location: The Old City
Mission: Concrete Jungle-

As we waited for Lindow give us his orders, I couldn't help but wonder why he was sent here. I checked with Hibari and she confirmed I would be with Soma, Kota and Sakuya for the mission. There's no way they would send Lindow out here just to give us orders, he could have easily done that back at the Den. Was this about my unusual Burst Mode? No… I told Sakaki about it days ago. If it was worrisome, why wait until now to have Lindow watch over me? Argh! Nothing makes any sense….

While I was busy with my own thoughts, Lindow gave his orders, "Hey, it's another great day to work! Return to base safe and sound. That's all." Kota looked confused with how short it was, "Huh, that's it?" Sakuya shrugged, "You won't last long if you keep questioning him like that." Soma merely scoffed, "What a drag…." Lindow then turned to the rookie, "Good to see that except one of us, our souls are all connected." The others also turned to look at him, but instead of an apology, a scoff or any kind of response for that matter, they are greeted with a look of great disdain. Lindow hurriedly apologized, thinking he went too far, "Hey, don't worry about it! I was only kidding! ... Rookie? Hey rookie, you there?"

I soon snapped out of my reverie, "I'm sorry, Lindow. Did you say something?" Lindow breathed a sigh of relief, "Don't scare me like that, will you? Anyway, this is the first 4-person mission these members have preformed. Just do what you always do." Incidentally, most the missions I've went to were done in either a 2 or 3-person team, so yeah, this is my first 4-person mission. "Huh? Wait, what about you, Lindow?" Kota asked. Lindow shrugged as he gave us a sheepish smile, "Well, you see, I've been asked on a secret date right after this. So it's just gonna be the four of you today."

… A secret date, in a place like this? Yeah, I'd believe it when Aragami start wearing underwear.

Another ring and Lindow took out the terminal from his pocket, "If I don't get there in time, my date will get mad and leave. Talk about impatient!" … Wait, the same person they caused to glare like that? I'm more surprise you didn't decide to stand her up! "I'm taking off now, guys. My orders are the usual: Don't die. Make sure you come back alive." Unexpectedly, Soma said, "They're your own orders. Better make sure you follow them yourself!" I guess in his own way, Soma really does care for his comrades. "Try not to stay out too late, Lindow, okay?" Sakuya said with a look of concern. After Lindow left, We then executed our mission. But even as we did so I wondered, what is the real reason Lindow came here?

…

Meanwhile…

In a Fenrir Special Operations Copter surrounded by similar transports, Director Johannes von Shicksal is seen sitting within it. Having finished negotiations with the Director of the Russia Branch a few hours ago, he then left and is now headed back to the Far East Branch, along with a new passenger. Johannes smiled as he glanced at the Far East Branch's newest addition, who was also a New-Type Gods Eater. 'With this… the Ark Project is step closer to becoming reality."

The New-Type, a young woman with long silver hair and wearing Mutinia clothes and cap was staring straight into the horizon. Occasionally, she would take out a necklace she wore around her neck and look at the charm attached to it. When she did so, Johannes' curiosity won him over and asked, "Is that from your family?" The New-Type shook her head, "No, from a friend." As she continued to stare at the charm, her thoughts were not on the charm itself, but rather the person who gave it to her a little more than a year ago.

"Take this. As long you and I have one, we will meet each other again someday. Until then, I promise I'll survive, no matter what!"

Closing her hand, she looked out into the sky, the words that were uttered fresh in her mind.

"I really hope I can see you again, Kamino."

…

And done. This is part 1 and yes! You know who will be joining in the next chapter! (No, not Voldemort) XD

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