Alrighty, here is the next chapter, so enjoy ;)

Red Rose

Chapter 33

Five minutes previous

Takuya, Tommy, Kouichi, and Miki all waited anxiously outside the facility, as Takuya had refused to move from his spot. Kouji and Nana had left momentarily to retrieve the Mazda. While Tommy and Kouichi had remained unharmed, Takuya cradled his broken arm with his good one, trying his best to ignore the pain. It proved to be difficult, however, as the bone was nearly piercing its way through his flesh. Miki was sitting on the ground, rubbing her head from a slight concussion.

The front entrance of the building was slightly ajar, and Takuya could hear gunshots coming from inside. He was not worried about the shots, as he knew that Zoe would easily be able to hold her own against the guns. It was Masaki who was his main concern. Takuya had no idea how long it would take for Zoe to kill the male Diclonius; that is, if she succeeded in defeating him.

"I think I'm gonna be sick...." Takuya fell to his knees, worry clenching his stomach.

Tommy attempted to find comforting words for his friend, but found himself unable to think of anything. He couldn't know for sure whether or not Zoe would make it out alive and it wouldn't do him any good to fill Takuya with false hope. Kouichi glanced over to his worried friend, sighing in sympathy. As afraid as he was for Zoe's sake, he couldn't help but let his racing mind go back to Kanae. You'll never find a girl like her again, he thought sadly to himself.

Seconds later, Kouji and Nana pulled up in front of the facility, putting the car into park. They both emerged from the automobile, just as an explosion was heard from within the building.

"What was that?" Takuya wondered aloud, his eyes wide with fear as he quickly stood back up.

The bullets suddenly ceased, but were replaced by the sounds of screaming. Takuya exchanged horrified glances with his friends, before taking a step towards the building.

Before he could go any further, though, Kouji promptly tackled him to the ground.

"Are you stupid?!" Kouji shouted into his ear.

"Fuck, Kouji! Watch my arm!" Takuya shot back angrily. "It's broken, ya know!"

Kouji glared at him, before yanking him up by his shirt. "And that won't be the only thing broken by the time I'm done with you. If you so much as take one more fucking step towards the building, I'll kick your ass! There's nothing you can do for Zoe, so just knock it the hell off!"

"What am I supposed to do?!" Takuya practically yelled. "Just wait for her to die?!"

The raven-haired teen's expression softened and he sighed. "Takuya...I know that this is hard for you. But you need to let Zoe do this. Think about it; what can you possibly do to help her?"

Takuya scowled at his friend for another moment, before his face crumbled into a defeated expression. "I just wish I could help her.... I don't want to lose her."

"None of us want to lose her," Nana pointed. "I know that I'm not as strong as Zoe or Masaki, but I could always-"

"No," Tommy interrupted. "You're not going in there."

The purple-haired Diclonius groaned softly. "But I could help her. I might be able to distract Masaki long enough to leave an opening for Zoe to finish him off."

However, a billow of smoke blew out from the front door, causing everyone to gasp. After the initial billow, more smoke began to pour through the half-opened doors.

"Oh, god...." Nana's heart began to race.

"Shit, the explosion we heard must've caused a fire or something," Kouji observed.

"Zoe!" Takuya went to take another step forward, ignoring Kouji's previous threat.

Instead of tackling him this time, though, Kouji merely restrained the brunette. "No, it's too dangerous!"

"I should go in and help," Nana speculated.

"Nana, you're not going in there!" Tommy argued, holding her back as well. "It's too risky."

As much as both Takuya and Nana hated to admit it, they knew he was right. It would only put Nana in danger and possibly killed if anything went wrong.

Miki shakily pulled herself up into a standing position. "One of the pipes must've burst.... There were a few petroleum cans that had been delivered today that still had not been put away by the time Zoe showed up. The cans were most likely punctured and sprayed everywhere, then a stray bullet might've penetrated one of the pipes, causing an explosion. The fire could be spreading rapidly if that is the case."

"Shit! Now what?!" Takuya cried out, watching as more smoke emerged from the facility.

"We wait," Kouji told him in a depressed tone. "And wish for the best."

Seconds felt like hours, and minutes felt like days. Takuya nervously paced back and forth, his heart pounding in his chest. Smoke began to not only pour through the door, but through other parts of the building, too. It billowed out through windows, and he could see as the metal structure slowly caved in as it melted from the severe heat. Fire began to burst out the door, and they could vaguely see the flame-filled room through the thick, gray curtain of smoke.

"Fuck! Zoe!" Takuya shouted, wishing that the torment would end.

Over the roar of flames, he thought he could hear the sound of a girl scream. He fell to his knees, tears finally beginning to course down his face in twin rivers. As the seconds ticked by, the chances of Zoe's survival diminished. Nana was crying as well, her prostetic knees buckling. Tommy grabbed her to keep her from falling, holding the girl close as she sobbed into his chest.

Suddenly, there was a huge burst of flame emerging from the buiding, as well as another roar of buring smoke. The facility then began to crumble, shattered glass raining down onto everyone below. Nana used her vectors to knock away the ones that were dangerously large, though her eyes never left the building.

"Fuck, it's collapsing!" Kouji yelled, watching as the center of the facility finally caved in completely.

"Oh, god..." Miki's rubbed the ash off the lens of her glasses with her sleeve.

As the rest of the building collapsed, there was one final explosion. The force of it sent everyone flying backward several feet, causing them to cover themselves as bits of concrete and hot metal sprinkled down onto them They immediately brushed the debris away, hurrying back up into a standing position. The ruined building was burning to the ground, and the large amount of smoke made it difficult to see.

"D-does anyone see Zoe?" Takuya finally choked out, wiping tears from his burning eyes.

"No," Kouji replied gravely. "I can hardly see anything right now."

As the brunette's heart sank, he frantically looked around for any sign of the Diclonius. He scanned the area, hoping to see a glimpse of blond hair or the clothes that Zoe had been wearing.

"Zoe!" Kouichi called out, walking up to the destroyed ruins. "Zoe! Can you hear me?"

"She might be dead," Kouji speculated.

Takuya whirled around to punch him, only to restrain himself before he could. As devastated as that idea made him, he found it unlikely that Kouji was wrong.

"Fuck!" He angrily yelled out, punching a nearby tree with his good arm. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

While Nana continued to sob in Tommy's embrace, Kouichi leaned down to pick up a stray ribbon. It was slightly dusty and he recognized it to be one of the two ribbons that Zoe had been wearing earlier.

"Looks like neither one of them made it out," Kouji said in a low voice, referring to Zoe and Masaki.

"Yeah," Takuya replied bitterly. "She came back to me once...but looks like she couldn't do it a second time...."

Kouji sighed. "Well...now what do we do?"

"Go to the hospital I guess," Takuya mumbled. "My arm is broken and Miki needs to get her head checked out....so I gues....we just leave...."

As the others slowly made their way over to the car, the brunette remained behind for a moment longer. He miserably stared at the ruined building and the flames engulfing it. His eyes then scanned over the over the large piles of debris. Just as he was about to turn around to make his way to the car, he spotted something amongst one of the piles.

"What the....?" He hurriedly walked over to the pile, ignoring the calls behind him.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" Kouji asked, jogging up behind him.

Takuya's eyes widened as he realized what he saw sticking out from beneath the pile; a human arm. Kouji noticed this and groaned.

"Takuya, there were a shitload of people killed today inside the damn building. That arm could belong to anyone," he pointed out.

The brunette continued on, however, and finally crouched down beside the debris. He began to feverishly move the pieces out of the way, his heart pounding. As he worked, he determined that the arm belonged to either a woman or a small-framed man. Takuya didn't know why, but something inside him made him quicken his pace. When he finally removed the last piece, he gasped surprise and relief. Zoe was the one who had been below the pile. Takuya's relief did not last, though, as the blond was unmoving and covered in blood.

"Shit! Zoe!" Takuya pulled her into his arms, ignoring the pain in his broken one.

Tommy and Nana rushed over, as Kouichi had remained behind with Miki.

"She's alive?" Tommy asked, his face overwhelmed with shock.

"I don't know," Takuya replied, desperately trying to wake the blond up. "Zoe! Can you hear me?"

"Come on, let's get her to the car," Kouji told him.

Takuya nodded, picking the limp girl up. The pain was agonizing in his arm, but he managed to hold onto her.

"Here, let me do it, dumbass," Kouji told him. "Your arm is fucking broken for cryin' out loud!"

"Just shut up and open the car door," Takuya growled as he carried Zoe back to the car.

"How are you even doing that?" Tommy asked, following him.

Takuya groaned, painfully shifting the blond in his arms. "I'm a wizard, that's how."

Just as they reached the car, Takuya sat down in the front seat with Zoe in his lap. Kouji had taken the liberty to appoint himself as the driver.

"How are the four of us going to fit in the back?" Kouich asked as he pointed to himself, Tommy, Nana, and Miki. "There are only three seats in the back."

"Easy," Kouji replied, starting the Mazda. "Nana can sit on Tommy's lap while you and Miki sit in the other seats. Problem solved, so get your asses in the car so we can get to the damn hospital."

The others nodded, Nana blushing slightly as she settled down onto Tommy's lap. While Kouji sped away from what was left of the research facility, Takuya held Zoe close to him. Tears poured down his face and dripped onto hers as her blood quickly stained his clothes.

Please be okay, he thought to himself. Please don't let me lose you again...

Three hours later

Takuya waited in the lobby of the hospital, his arm now wrapped up in a cast and placed in a sling. Tears were pouring down his face as he waited for the doctor to tell him the news. As much as Zoe had refused in the past to ever go to the hospital, Takuya was unable to find an alternative. He would think of a solution later if it came to it. That is, if he needed a solution....

"What did you tell the doctors about Zoe's...you know..." Kouji's voice trailed off, not willing to say 'horns' out loud.

"I told them that she was going to a costume party and was wearing fake horns on her heads as part of her outfit. You know, they have those special costume horns that the person can use a glue-type stuff to help stick them to their hair," Takuya told him. "Courtney had a pair of those a few years ago when she dressed as the devil for Halloween."

While Takuya and Miki were the only ones with injuries other than Zoe, the doctors had insisted on checking up on the twins and Tommy. Nana had cleaned herself up in the bathroom and lied about being with them at the time of the incident. She couldn't risk letting them see her artificial limbs, as they not only were for more advanced than the average prostetics, but they looked like real limbs. Not to mention the fact that they were controlled by her vectors as oppose to machinery.

Miki had been admitted to a hospital room to get a CAT scan, but Takuya was allowed to leave once his arm was wrapped up properly.

"How long before we know anything?" Kouichi asked.

Takuya shrugged. "I don't know...but if it's taking them this long, at least we know that she's still alive and fighting...."

After several more painstaking minutes, a doctor finally walked over to the group of awaiting teens. He looked to be in his late thirties to early forties. His dark brown hair fell over his forehead and his blue eyes had flecks of green in them.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Jirou Kobayashi," he introduced himself. "I'm the doctor who's been working on Zoe."

"Hi," Takuya replied, standing up. "So how is she?"

The doctor sighed, but gave him a weak smile. "Well, we were able to stablize her. She lost quite a bit of blood and needed a transfusion. There were no broken bones miraculously, but the cuts in her torso and limbs are quite deep."

Takuya swallowed nervously. "W-will she be okay?"

Dr. Kobayashi hesitated for a moment, before gesturing to the corner of the lobby. "Is it okay if I actually speak with you in private?"

"Yeah, sure," Takuya said as his friends nodded in agreement.

The two of them walked over to the side of the lobby, out of earshot. The doctor looked at Takuya seriously for a moment, before clearing his throat.

"I uh...I told my fellow colleagues that the horns on Zoe's head were part of a costume and to just leave them," he told the brunette.

Takuya shifted uneasily, his gaze flickering elsewhere. "Yeah, well, her horns are fake."

Dr. Kobayashi chuckled. "Young man, I know that they are real."

The brunette stood speechless, his heart pounding as he frantically attempted to think of something. However, the doctor smiled at him, easing his fear.

"Don't worry, I won't be telling anyone about her," Dr. Kobayashi said. "Her secret is safe with me."

Takuya wasn't sure whether or not he could believe the man, but he figured that he didn't have much of a choice at this point. He nodded in response, before shifting a second time.

"What are her chances of survival?" He asked, dreading the answer.

The doctor's face became somber. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that just yet. I don't want to upset or alarm you, but she may or may not pull through. We can only wait."

"Is she in a coma?" Takuya inquired.

"No, but she is heavily subdued and we don't know if anything could go wrong. Her stomach and one of her lungs were punctured, and her heart had been grazed," Dr. Kobayashi replied. "She won't be awake for quite a bit, but you will be allowed to visit her soon enough. We just want to transfer her out of the ICU before then."

"So...I can't see her until then?" Takuya asked, his face dour.

Dr. Kobayashi smiled. "Well...I might be able to arrange one visit before then, as Zoe won't be out of the unit for another day or so if things go well. If you are willing to stay around for a bit, I'll be sure to come down and let you see her."

"I'm not leaving the hospital until she does," the brunette replied firmly.

The doctor chuckled. "Now that's what I call supportive. But don't overexert yourself, young man. She's going to need you, as this is going to be a tough and painful recovery. And you need to recover as well."

"I'll be fine," Takuya told him. "But thank you, and I appreciate you keeping things under wraps. It's hard to explain things to people and I-"

"No need to explain yourself," Dr. Kobayashi said. "But I need to get to some other patients and check Zoe's condition in a little while to see how she is. I'll be around within an hour or so to let you visit."

"Thank you." The brunette walked back over to his friends, taking a seat beside Kouji.

The doctor left the lobby and made his way down the hallway. As he made his way through the hospital wing, he glanced into Zoe's room before seeing his next patient. He looked at the two horns on the top of her head, sighing in despair as he remembered his painful past.

Eight years ago

"You want me to do what?!" The distraught father yelled.

He stared at the two men before him, one of them holding a small briefcase. The man with the briefcase introduced himself as Daichi Kurama, and his colleague's name was Yu Kakuzawa. Seconds ago, they had approached him and told him the unthinkable.

Kakuzawa sighed. "Sir, you must kill your daughter. We've been given orders to to eliminate any children born with horns."

The man violently shook his head. "No! I don't care if she has horns. She's my daughter and I refuse to do that to her."

"If you'd like, I can do it for you. I've already killed ten of them, so I might as well. There's no need for anyone else to get their hands dirty," Kurama said.

The child's father fell to his knees, crying. "But she's my baby..... I-I c-can't to that to her! I-I won't!"

Kurama put his hand on the the man's shoulder. "I know that it is hard. But it has to be done now. Just think about the horrible childhood she will experience. People will stare at her and tease her. You don't want that, do you?"

"Well, no.....But-"

"She'll be shunned by society," Kakuzawa told him. "Teased horribly, subject to severe bullying. She will end up as suicidal or just snap and kill everyone in sight. That includes you and your wife."

The man was shaking, tears running down his face as he took everything in. "But...I can't k-kill her.... I can't imagine my life without my baby..."

"Sir, your life will only last a few more years if you let your daughter live. Do you want to come home one day and find your wife dead because she refused to let your daughter have ice cream for breakfast? Is that what you want your future to hold?" Kurama asked.

"Well, no...but...." The father wiped his face. "I can't do it myself... I'll never be able to live with myself if I ever did that to my own daughter..."

Kurama gave him a slightly compassionate look. "As I said, I can do the deed myself. I realize how hard this is for you to do. But she will kill you, your wife and plenty more as she grows older. You'll be doing her a favor by sparing her of such a horrible life. Trust me, I've seen too many cases where the entire family is butchered by a small, seemingly helpless child."

The man sighed. "I-I suppose....but I can't do it myself..."

"I will take care of it for you," Kurama told him. "You just wait here."

The child's father nodded mutely, unable to find the strength to reply vocally.

"It has to be done," Kakuzawa said. "I'm sorry, but it is for the best."

Kurama entered the nursery, then emerged about two minutes later.

"It's been done." He looked at the grieving father. "I can assure you, she did not feel any pain. She was sleeping and I injected her with a chemical that killed her. She died peacefully."

They left the sobbing man and walked out of the hospital, ruining the future he would've had with his wife and daughter.

Jirou Kobayashi stared at the twin horns one last time, before gently closing Zoe's bedroom door. Her condition had greatly affected him and he couldn't help but think about his own lost daughter. He chastised himself for the ten billionth time in his life, angry and devastated how he had given in so easily back then. If he could go through it again, he would've let his baby live in a heartbeat.

However, that was in the past, and there was no way he could change it. He continued his way down the corrider, the clipboard for his next patient in his hand.

Zoe didn't seem like a killer to me, he thought to himself as he remembered Kurama and Kakuzawa's words. Then again, despite what those two men had told them, killing innocent children didn't make them any less of a killer; and perhaps worse than what his daughter ever would've turned out.

Okay, only one chapter left to go! Please review and let me know how you liked this chapter. Also, the doctor's flashback is actually in my story Bloodbath on Chapter 28. Of course, I edited it and made it sound more specific this time around, but I decided to put that scene in this story as a weird little twist. Hope you liked it :3